International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has released two COVID-19 related documents. The first of these, Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Cotton Market’ is a four-page brochure that outlines the current situation on supply and demand, prices and trade, as well as potential scenarios for each sector under a slow recovery or a speedier one. It also describes policy responses to the pandemic and recommendations for the industry as a whole to mitigate the damage.

The second document titled, The Role of Cotton in Face Masks’, a research paper that reached a clear conclusion about making non-surgical face masks to protect against COVID-19 infection and spread: Cotton is superior to synthetics and other fibre types. The critical finding is that cotton’s ability to absorb, dehydrate and deactivate the virus — combined with the fact it’s biodegradable and can be impregnated with antimicrobial nanoparticles — make it the best choice for non-surgical, do-it-yourself face masks.

ICAC Executive Director Kai Hughes said that while the statistics and data in the Impacts report give readers a sense of where the industry stands right now, another important aspect of the report is ‘that the ICAC is providing recommendations — specific actions that governments and organisations can consider now to help facilitate the recovery — and it also shows how policy responses could potentially impact that recovery timeline’.