U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE 

COTTON PROGRAM, MARKET NEWS BRANCH 

3275 APPLING ROAD, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 38133 

Telephone 901-384-3016 

 

Vol. 74, No.1 August 2003 

Production of cotton linters by United States oil mills totaled 30,000 running bale equivalents during 

July (four weeks), according to the Bureau of the Census. This was down from 45,000 bales 

produced in July last year and 47,000 bales two years ago. Shipments of cotton linters from oil mills 

totaled 34,000 bales in July, down from 81,000 last year and 51,000 in July 2001. 

Consumption of cotton linters by domestic mills totaled 43,000 bales during July (four weeks). This 

was up from 40,000 bales consumed in July last year but down from 54,000 bales in July two years 

ago. In July, domestic bleachers used 42,000 bales, up from 39,000 used in July last year but down 

from 52,000 used two years ago. Consumers other than bleachers used 1,000 bales in July. This 

was the same number of bales used last year and two years ago. 

 

Stocks of cotton linters totaled 150,000 bales at the end of July. This was down from 156,000 bales 

during the same period last year but up from 110,000 bales two years ago. Domestic bleachers held 

140,000 bales at the end of July. This compares with 138,000 bales last year and 103,000 bales two 

years ago. Oil mill stocks totaled 9,000 bales at the end of July. End-of-July stocks held by 

consumers other than bleachers and in public storage were not reported by the Bureau of the Census. 

Cottonseed receipts at oil mills through July totaled 2,443,000 tons during the 2002-2003 season. 

This compared with 2,712,000 in 2001-2002 and 2,735,000 in 2000-2001. Oil mills crushed 

116,000 tons of cottonseed during July, compared with 166,000 in July the previous year and 

188,000 two years ago. Oil mills had 330,000 tons of cottonseed on hand at the end of July and 

compares with 400,000 tons a year ago and 424,000 at the end of July 2001. 

United States exports of raw cotton linters totaled 1,635 metric tons during July, compared to 2,737 

tons last year and 959 two years ago. 

 September 23, 2003 
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Table 1. Consumption of cotton linters by types of consumer, by months, 

United States, 1996-2002 1/

Season

beginning Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Total

August 1

1,000 bales

Bleachers consumption

1996 56 66* 41 56 56* 56 56 69* 61 59 68* 44 688

1997 55 75* 42 52 69* 61 62 85* 64 64 78* 56 763

1998 81 76* 55 63 66* 88* 65 72* 63 70 61* 56 816

1999 65 55* 69 69 72* 70 66 74* 67 67 76* 51 801

2000 46 62* 50 59 64* 52 58 73* 55 52 69* 52 692

2001 54 65* 56 51 60* 53 48 56* 44 44 69* 39 639

2002 2/ 46 58* 45 43 54* 62* 48 56* 48 50 61* 42 613

Consumption by other than bleachers

1996 3 5* 3 3 3* 4 3 4* 3 4 4* 4 43

1997 4 4* 4 4 4* 4 3 4* 4 4 4* 3 46

1998 4 4* 3 3 3* 3* 3 4* 3 3 3* 3 39

1999 3 3* 3 3 3* 3 3 2* 3 2 2* 2 32

2000 2 3* 2 2 1* 1 1 2* 1 1 2* 1 19

2001 1 2* 1 1 1* 1 1 1* 1 1 1* 1 13

2002 1 1* 1 1 1* 1* 1 1* 1 1 1* 1

Total consumption

1996 60 70* 44 59 59* 59 59 73* 65 63 72* 48 731

1997 59 79* 45 56 73* 65 66 89* 68 68 81* 59 808

1998 85 80* 58 66 69* 91* 68 76* 67 73 64* 59 856

1999 68 58* 71 72 75* 73 69 77* 69 69 78* 53 832

2000 48 65* 52 61 66* 53 60 76* 57 54 71* 54 717

2001 55 67* 58 53 61* 55 50 58* 45 45 71* 40 658

2002 47 59* 46 44 55* 63* 49 57* 49 51 62* 43 625

1/ Reported in running bale equivalents. Consumption figures relate to four-week months except as noted. 

* Five-week month. Sums by types of consumers may not equal the total because of rounding. 2/ Preliminary. 

Table 2. Bleachers stocks of cotton linters, by months, United States, 1996-2002 1/

 Season

 beginning Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July

 August 1

1,000 bales

Bleacher stocks

1996 160 148 168 171 174 189 195 193 186 177 168 164

1997 151 120 128 134 136 151 156 151 158 152 149 153

1998 155 142 141 152 152 165 165 160 154 137 154 148

1999 130 120 119 123 128 116 110 105 94 90 76 72

2000 82 72 84 96 95 109 112 128 141 91 96 103

2001 105 96 95 116 139 139 136 133 137 131 135 138

2002 145 140 149 D D D D 176 174 155 149 140

1/ Stocks at the end of reporting period, in running bale equivalents. 

D Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies. 
3

Table 3. Oil mill production, shipments and stocks of cotton linters, by months,

United States, 1995-2002 1/ 

Season

beginning Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Total

August 1

1,000 bales

Production

1995 68 66 97 109 104 110 101 103 94 87 60 64 1,063

1996 63 61 88 94 95 103 94 96 86 90 72 73 1,015

1997 63 57 83 99 99 110 89 98 89 75 70 73 1,004

1998 60 49 69 69 75 76 69 78 53 45 45 38 725

1999 45 63 76 78 77 78 76 79 67 63 59 41 797

2000 45 41 69 69 62 70 60 62 46 60 61 47 692

2001 43 40 70 73 72 73 66 60 61 60 50 45 714

2002 2/ 50 43 51 59 58 64 53 54 55 48 44 30 606

Shipments

1995 79 65 92 104 98 103 95 95 85 92 60 72 1,041

1996 65 59 81 92 83 112 90 98 100 93 79 76 1,029

1997 66 65 93 72 103 109 77 96 84 74 80 88 1,007

1998 63 57 74 73 71 71 67 76 57 50 50 43 752

1999 43 59 86 80 79 72 77 79 69 65 66 36 811

2000 50 39 65 72 52 76 62 56 54 56 62 51 693

2001 43 34 60 76 61 68 60 51 75 61 45 81 716

2002 2/ 49 47 54 53 58 67 54 47 58 46 47 34 613

Oil mill stocks

1995 20 21 26 30 37 44 50 58 67 62 62 54 -

1996 52 54 62 65 76 67 70 68 54 51 43 40 -

1997 37 29 18 44 40 42 54 56 62 63 53 38 -

1998 34 26 22 17 21 26 28 30 26 21 16 10 -

1999 12 17 20 19 17 23 21 22 20 19 12 17 -

2000 9 11 15 13 23 17 16 21 14 18 11 13 -

2001 12 18 28 25 37 42 48 57 43 46 51 15 -

2002 2/ 17 13 11 16 16 12 10 17 14 15 12 9 -

1/ Reported in running bale equivalents. 2/ Preliminary.

Table 4. Oil mill production, shipments and stocks of cotton linters by types of cut

and by months, July 2002 - July 2003 1/

Production Shipments Oil Mill Stocks

Month First Second Mill First Second Mill First Second Mill

cuts cuts run Total cuts cuts run Total cuts cuts run Total

1,000 bales

July 2002 (D) 29.8 (D) 44.7 (D) 54.0 (D) 80.5 5.1 5.7 4.5 15.2

Aug 2002 (D) 35.5 (D) 50.0 (D) 33.4 (D) 48.6 (D) 7.8 (D) 16.6

Sept. 2002 8.4 32.1 3.0 43.5 7.4 33.9 5.6 46.9 (D) 6.0 (D) 13.2

Oct. 2002 (D) 35.5 (D) 51.0 (D) 37.7 (D) 53.6 4.1 3.8 2.7 10.6

Nov. 2002 (D) 44.1 (D) 58.6 (D) 42.0 (D) 53.1 4.5 5.9 5.8 16.2

Dec. 2002 (D) 41.1 (D) 57.5 (D) 41.4 (D) 57.9 5.0 5.7 5.2 15.8

Jan. 2003 8.0 45.6 10.0 63.6 7.7 48.4 11.3 67.5 5.2 2.9 3.9 11.9

Feb. 2003 6.0 38.0 8.7 52.7 7.9 37.3 9.1 54.2 3.3 3.6 3.5 10.4

Mar. 2003 7.3 40.6 5.6 53.5 5.0 37.1 4.7 46.7 5.6 7.1 4.5 17.2

Apr. 2003 (D) 38.8 (D) 54.6 (D) 42.7 (D) 58.1 5.4 3.2 5.2 13.8

May 2003 (D) 32.1 (D) 47.7 (D) 31.3 (D) 46.0 5.7 4.0 5.8 15.5

June 2003 (D) 29.7 (D) 44.2 (D) 30.3 (D) 47.1 4.1 3.5 5.1 12.6

July 2003 (D) 21.9 (D) 29.5 (D) 23.1 (D) 33.6 2.4 2.3 3.9 8.6

1/ Preliminary. Reported in running bale equivalents. The sum of types of cut may not equal the total because of

rounding. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing individual oil mills.
Table 5. Receipts, crushings and stocks of cottonseed at oil mills, by months, United States, 1995-2002

 Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Season

 total

1,000 tons

9 518 1,193 1,300 596 96 66 34 83 -53 -1 9 3,850 

97 335 1,328 1,085 673 225 117 62 43 -13 -32 -54 3,866 

75 166 1,244 1,396 576 171 130 36 28 9 6 88 3,925 

134 284 1,040 667 373 100 44 18 2 -37 -55 -21 2,549 

114 454 965 742 365 117 94 38 34 -1 -15 53 2,959 

108 457 1,046 675 452 135 37 -11 -59 -48 -22 -34 2,735 

110 141 1,009 980 395 138 21 -7 14 -35 -71 17 2,712 

89 176 759 702 435 206 64 12 11 7 -16 -2 2,443 

Crushings

264 245 337 387 362 402 374 381 354 331 229 215 3,882

229 225 332 355 353 381 363 362 334 351 281 294 3,860

244 179 330 374 381 428 352 371 359 309 279 278 3,885

246 175 273 254 263 282 260 280 205 172 160 149 2,719

167 231 282 302 296 298 300 302 265 251 228 157 3,078

171 142 264 245 242 284 257 251 175 217 231 188 2,665

176 136 256 276 262 281 253 252 243 233 200 166 2,735

195 132 208 243 237 275 224 230 241 204 179 116 2,485

Stocks

293 566 1,422 2,335 2,569 2,263 1,955 1,608 1,336 952 723 517 -

385 495 1,491 2,221 2,542 2,386 2,140 1,840 1,548 1,184 871 523 -

353 340 1,254 2,276 2,471 2,213 1,991 1,656 1,325 1,025 752 563 -

451 560 1,328 1,740 1,850 1,668 1,453 1,191 987 778 563 393 -

340 563 1,247 1,686 1,755 1,574 1,368 1,104 872 621 378 274 -

220 535 1,317 1,754 1,957 1,808 1,588 1,321 1,164 899 647 424 -

353 358 1,111 1,819 1,951 1,807 1,574 1,315 1,087 820 549 400 -

294 337 882 1,342 1,539 1,472 1,311 1,093 863 666 449 330

Table 6. All stocks of cotton linters, by months, United States, 1995-2002 1/

 Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Season

total 

1,000 bales

165 162 178 187 203 220 232 252 266 259 246 239 -

219 207 236 241 255 260 269 265 243 232 214 213 -

202 158 155 188 180 197 214 211 224 219 207 195 -

193 172 166 172 175 193 195 193 156 160 171 160 -

144 139 141 144 147 141 133 128 117 111 90 92 -

94 85 101 110 121 127 129 150 156 110 108 110 -

119 116 126 143 178 182 186 192 183 179 189 156

163 156 162 172 (D) (D) 185 195 189 172 164 150

running bale equivalents. 2/ Preliminary. 

 avoid disclosing individual oil mills.

s 1 through 6, Bureau of the Census.

Table 7. U.S. Exports of raw cotton linter fiber, by months, 1995-2002

 Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Season

total 1/

Metric tons 2/

7,112 4,266 2,897 6,016 6,434 10,695 3,513 2,733 7,004 7,524 3,252 1,539 62,985

2,836 3,826 2,999 6,397 5,808 8,329 4,918 7,953 11,741 7,660 6,593 8,529 77,589

2,785 6,212 5,076 5,786 7,159 4,650 3,884 1,963 4,695 2,094 3,756 4,736 52,796

1,129 3,577 2,913 1,702 1,917 2,955 3,174 2,066 2,834 2,598 1,512 2,979 29,356

 2,057 4,867 4,695 6,593 4,949 3,462 7,695 5,888 3,908 4,726 2,866 6,382 58,088

 2,342 4,271 2,915 4,185 4,572 3,484 3,055 3,864 2,518 592 959 1,603 34,360

 782 1,689 585 2,108 2,111 1,576 4,963 4,983 4,894 3,547 2,737 3,729 33,704

 2,274 2,507 2,615 1,403 1,138 940 1,911 1,534 1,565 1,331 1,635 

monthly figures may not equal the season total due to rounding. 2/ 1 metric ton = U.S. equivalent 2,204.6 pounds.

Bureau of the Census report EM545.

Receipts

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