Raw-Fiber Equivalents of U.S. Textile Trade Data

The Economic Research Service (ERS) estimates the raw-fiber equivalent volume of U.S. textile trade each month. The raw-fiber equivalent of a textile product is the amount of fiber that industry utilizes as fiber is transformed into the final consumer good.  Because of nonrecoverable losses at each stage of transformation (yarn, fabric, and clothing or other final product), the volume of fiber used by the textile industry is greater than the volume of textile products produced and traded.  Trade data published by the Census Bureau for the volume of goods traded are converted by ERS into volume estimates of the various fibers consumed to produce those goods. The data are used to track and estimate U.S. consumer demand for textiles, monitor trends in fiber share, and provide insight into the level of world mill use of cotton. ERS publishes monthly estimates in the Cotton and Wool Outlook and in the Cotton and Wool Yearbook.  This dataset provides historical background for that monthly data with annual data back to 1989.