Cotton News

The Future of the Cotton Supply Chain

Supply chain sustainability, a hot topic for the world textile industry and a growing area of interest to consumers, was the focus of the
COTTON USA Supply Chain Conference held in October. Over 70 key industry leaders from across Europe descended on Prague to attend the conference, exploring how businesses can build a more efficient cotton supply chain, examining all elements of the chain – from limited availability and sourcing challenges to retail trends and volatile fibre prices.

Opening the conference, the acclaimed futurist Matthias Horx delivered the keynote presentation, Future Markets – Future Business, where he highlighted how global markets and future mentalities change. Predicting changes to consumer behaviour, he stated that the biggest trend over the next ten years would be 'womanomics', reflecting the increased influence of women in society. Click here to watch the full Cottoncast interview with Matthias Horx

Discussing the past and future of fibre prices, Jerry Marshall, owner of The Yiyang Company, explained the real reasons for the cotton market volatility over the past two years and provided insight into future fibre prices and availability. Despite cotton costs and its instability, Mark Messura, Senior Vice President of Cotton Incorporated, asserted that consumers are still preferring natural fibres and cotton in particular, with 81% of global consumers saying cotton and cotton blends are the fibres best suited for today's fashions.

Opening the afternoon session, Sue Butler, Director of Kurt Salmon Associates, discussed new sourcing opportunities. Listing the key challenge as significant increases in costs from labour and raw materials, Butler stressed the importance of efficiency throughout the supply chain whilst highlighting the drivers that lead the choice of new sourcing countries.

Vaughn Jordan, Director of International Programs of Cotton Council International (CCI), went on to discuss the COTTON USA supply chain programme and advised that greater attention to technological innovation needs to be applied at all levels of the supply chain to ensure effectiveness. Collaboration among various partners along the chain is also key to improving production efficiency.

The final session saw a panel of leading companies from all stages of the supply chain, including Denimatrix, Cargill and VF International, discuss the greatest challenges to their businesses today and how they see the industry changing over the next five to ten years. Among the big opportunities, the panel agreed that environmental and social responsibility are key elements. In addition to this, Ghassan Arab, of Multiline noted that sharing production standards is also one of the top challenges for the future.

Chairing the conference, Allen Terhaar, Executive Director of CCI, commented: "The subject of a sustainable supply chain is an extremely pertinent one. With rising costs of raw materials and an uncertain economic climate, it is more important than ever that companies consider all elements of the supply chain to maximise their efficiency."

With an impressive delegates list attending the conference, boasting representatives from John Lewis, Benetton, Thomas Pink, Replay, VF International, Escada and Drapers, the conference provided the perfect forum to share ideas about the changes and challenges ahead for the entire industry.

Lucy Shaw, Responsible Sourcing Manager of John Lewis PLC said of the importance of the conference: "We operate in a world now where raw materials and natural resources are running out. I think it is absolutely essential that in order to grow future business that we work collaboratively to build sustainable supply chains."