U.S. Cotton Distribution Patterns,1980-81

Expanding U.S. cotton exports and declining domestic demand reduced domestic mill shipments from 68 percent of all shipments in 1970/71 to 45 percent in 1980/81. Trucks, recently replacing rail as the primary cotton transporter, moved 53 percent of the shipments in 1975/76, but 69 percent in 1980/81. Results of an industrywide survey to determine the origins, destinations, and volumes of cotton shipped to alternative domestic outlets and export points during 1980/81 are presented, with data by State, region, and for the Nation, by mode of transportation. Results are also compared with similar surveys of the 1970 and 1975 crop years.