Cotton USA Korean Special Trade Mission is being conducted by Cotton Council International (CCI), the National Cotton Council’s export promotions arm, where ten textile executives from Korean companies will tour the U.S. Cotton Belt from April 17-22. The executives will observe U.S. cotton production, processing and marketing and will also be meeting the U.S. cotton exporters.

CCI President Keith Lucas said that they hope this tour will provide the Korean executives with a better appreciation for U.S. cotton’s superior quality and their industry’s outstanding reputation for timely delivery so that their desire for using more U.S. cotton will increase.

The Korean delegation will begin its tour in New York with a CCI briefing. They will also see cotton research in North Carolina, tour the USDA cotton classing office in Bartlett, Tenn., and visit a farm in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

U.S. market share with the ten participating Korean companies is estimated at 54 percent, and these mills are expected to consume about 1.1 million bales in 2015-16, representing 85 percent of Korea’s total cotton consumption.

Many Korean textile mills also have textile investments outside of Korea, primarily in Vietnam, and those spinning mills consume some 390,000 bales, of which about 182,000 bales are from the United States.

Korea currently ranks as the sixth largest U.S. cotton importer, with current U.S. export commitments to Korea at 440,000 bales. The country imported 650,000 U.S. bales in the 2014-15 marketing year.