Harvard Center for Textile & Apparel Research

B.Tan Overview of the Turkish Textile and Apparel Industry 26
5.1. 5.1. Cotton Cotton Textiles
Textiles
Turkey is the sixth largest producer and the fifth largest consumer of cotton (Table
24). Especially, the cotton produced in the western part of Turkey, around Izmir, is
considered to be the best quality cotton in the world markets. However, when the overall
production is considered, a study on the dirtiness of cotton conducted by ITMF
(International Textiles Manufacturers Federation) in 1998 ranks Turkey third after India
and Pakistan. This is regarded as one of the most important problems of cotton yarn
industry [13].
Table 24. Cotton Production and Demand in the World
Production (1000 ton) Demand (1000 ton)
Country 98/99 99/00 98/99 99/00
China 4,501 4,000 4,300 4,350
U.S.A 3,030 3,674 2,280 2,221
India 2,771 2,975 2,729 2,822
Pakistan 1,343 1,700 1,530 1,581
Uzbekistan 999 1,160 150 170
Turkey 882 899 1,000 1,100
Australia 726 704 N/A N/A
Argentina 425 403 780 850
Brazil 385 380 125 130
Source: Cotton Outlook, December 1999 [4]
Although cotton production cannot meet demand now, it is expected to exceed the
demand in coming years after the completion of the South Anatolian Project (GAP). The
South Anatolian Project is a $32 billion project which includes the construction of 22 dams
and 19 hydroelectric plants on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the irrigation a dry area
of land the size of Austria to transform it into a fertile area. With the completion of this
project, cotton production is expected to double by 2005. New projects including the one to
produce colored cotton have been planned in the project.
Turkey has been producing more cotton yarn than its demand for a number of years
(Table 26). It is expected that this trend will continue and there will be a cotton yarn
surplus in coming years. Following this trend, cotton yarn exports haven been increasing
while the imports have been decreasing (Table 26).