CHALLENGES OF INTER-FIBER COMPETITION: A SUMMARY OF THE TFCF REPORT

摘要

ICAC research indicates that increased business risks stemming from higher and more volatile cotton prices, recession followed by weak and decelerating economic growth in industrialized countries, and the economic slowdown in developing countries contributed to the loss of 9 percentage points of the market for cotton textiles between 2007 and 2012. Cotton consumption at the retail level declined in all regions, although more strongly so in industrialized countries. Non-cotton fiber consumption, on the other hand, increased by 29% to 55.3 million tons between 2007 and 2012, mostly during the recovery that started in 2009. So not only did non-cotton textiles cover the demand destruction observed in cotton textiles, but they also satisfied the increasing needs of a bigger and higher earning world population.