Cotton Quality and Cotton Testing - Actual Developments in Cotton Quality Evaluation -

1 A. Drieling, Cotton Quality and Testing, Arusha 2007 / 09

Lab of the Bremen Cotton Exchange

Cotton Quality and Cotton Testing- Actual Developments in Cotton Quality Evaluation -

Axel Drieling Faserinstitut Bremen e.V. (Bremen Fibre Institute), Germany

- Laboratory of the Bremen Cotton Exchange -

Africa – EU Cotton PartnershipSeminar on Cotton in Africa:

Trends, Incentives and Institutions

Arusha, Tanzania, September 6 to 8



The Quality of Cotton

It is important to obtain reliable information about the actual quality of cotton– Cotton growers need the information

• to obtain an equitable price for the cotton• to enhance cotton quality (breeding/research)

– Ginning needs the information• To optimise the ginning process

– The trade needs the information • to fix the price of cotton• to satisfy the customers

– Cotton spinners need the information• to assure a properly running process• to achieve the required quality of yarn• to minimize the raw material costs



Manual/Visual Classing

• Manual Classing is a common method for estimating the quality of cotton

• Manual Classing is the actual basis for trading cotton

• But Manual Classing is commonly rated– not to be sufficiently objective– not to be sufficiently reliable / precise

• Global cotton trading is more and more accepting and demanding instrument test results

• Cotton spinning requires instrument test results, notManual Classing results



Instrument Testing

• Low Volume Testing / Detailed Testing– Many different instruments

and parameters for all kinds of properties

– Detailed information for e.g. spinning purposes

– High time effort and costs, not capable for testing every single bale

• High Volume Testing– Limited number of

parameters– High speed testing,

capable for testing every single bale

– High Volume Instruments (HVI) from various manufacturers



Perspective

The worldwide accepted and demanded way for the evaluation of cotton quality is inevitably moving towards High Volume Instrument testing– Classing of the cotton production is shifting from manual classing

to instrument testing (globally 30% of all produced bales, increasing to more than 60% in the next 5 years [ICAC])

– Spinning mills are using HVI results regularly

– Research is using HVI results regularly

– Trade is moving towards HVI results to fulfil customers demands



ICAC CSITC Task Force

Under the auspices of ICAC, the Task Force for

Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton – CSITCwas formed to solve existing problems for the global commercial use of instrument cotton testing

•Formed in December 2003•15 international members:

– Cotton exporters– Importers– Testing– All segments of the world cotton industry– Research

CSITCCSITC



ICAC CSITC Task Force: Objectives

• To establish a worldwide acceptable, adoptable and reliable instrument based cotton quality assessment for commercial purposes

• To ensure and improve the reliability of High Volume Testing for commercial purposes

Standardization

Harmonisation• To assist developing countries to meet the requirements of

standardized and harmonized instrument testing, so that they are not at a disadvantage

• To encourage the trading of cotton based on instrument data



CFC/EU – ICAC Project

Based on the recommendations of the CSITC Task Force, and to facilitate the work that is necessary to fulfil the CSITC objectives, a project was created:

Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton for the Cotton Producing Developing Countries in Africa

– Project Executing Agency: Faserinstitut Bremen (Bremen Fibre Institute)– Project Partners:

• CIRAD (France)• East Africa: TBS (Tanzania) and TCB (Tanzania)• West Africa: Cerfitex (Mali) and Sofitex (Burkina Faso)

– Supervisory Body: International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)– Financing: Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) – 2.03 Mio USD– Co-Financing: European Commission (as part of its EC –ACP Agricultural

Commodities Programme) – 3 Mio USD (2.4 Mio EUR)– External Contribution: e.g. USDA, Bremen Cotton Exchange,

Uster, Premier– Project Duration: 4 years; start expected for October 2007



CFC/EU ICAC Project

• This project will provide the financial basis for the topics and activities that I will explain in this presentation

– Global objectives and activities for the commercial standardization of Instrument Testing (Standardization, Harmonization)

– Core of the project: Specific objectives and activities for Instrument Testing in Africa, for the benefit of the African cotton production



a) Standardization of High Volume Testing

Standardization is necessary to have one common language that is understood by all– CSITC Task Force agreed on the Standard Test Method and the Calibration Material– Within the project, guidelines for HVI testing from different sides will be combined– But there is no restriction to a single instrument manufacturer– CSITC Task Force agreed to choose 6 parameters which are sufficiently reliable,

and fixed the valid definition and calibration• Micronaire (including fineness and maturity)• Strength• Length, Length Uniformity• Colour: Reflectance Rd, Yellowness +b

– Other important properties/parameters which are less reliable at this stage, are not included, but improvements are requested

– CSITC Task Force developed recommendations for sampling



Standardization of High Volume Testing: Colour

• Colour results– Reflectance –

quantitative number, measured in Rd– Yellowness –

quantitative number, measured in +b For all cottons, the same colour is measured

with the same results

• Country/region specific Colour Grades, which respect origin specific information, can easily be calculated based on the standardized instrument results (Rd and +b)

• Every country/region can use its own colour grade – if necessary



b) Harmonization of High Volume Testing

Harmonization means to care for the same results in different laboratories on the same samples – For every laboratory it is important to check regularly,

if there is a difference between its results and the results of other laboratories This can be done with Round Trials (like Bremen or USDA)

– For laboratories it is additionally useful to get more detailed information about possible reasons for any deviations It is possible to check this in a specifically adapted Round Trial

– For all users of instrument test results, it is essential to know about the accuracy and precision of the utilized instruments and methods This can be achieved with Round Trials (partially with Bremen or USDA RTs)

– For all users of instrument test results, it is helpful to know about the reliability of cotton testing laboratories and their test results It is possible to check this in a specifically adapted Round Trial



Harmonization: CSITC Round Trial

• Other round trials like the Bremen Cotton Round Trial or the USDA HVI Checktest are useful, but do not fulfil all requirements of CSITC

• A specific CSITC Round Trial was established to fulfil all necessities of harmonization for High Volume Testing

• Aims:– Evaluation of the test method / test result variability – Comparison of the results between laboratories– New: Evaluation/rating of the participating laboratories– New: Detailed analysis of laboratories to achieve more accurate

results



CSITC Round Trial – Configuration

Cotton 1 Cotton 2 Cotton 3 Cotton 4 Cotton 5

day 1 6 tests 6 tests 6 tests 6 tests 6 tests





Sub Total 30 tests 30 tests 30 tests 30 tests 30 tests

Total 150 tests for each Round Trial

Cotton 1 to cotton 4 are used to evaluate laboratories reliablyCotton 5 offers the chance to include cottons with different behaviour / from different origins

For the purposes of CSITC Round Trial, very intense testing is necessary:• 4 Round Trials per year with each 5 different cotton samples,• 150 tests for each laboratory / 30 tests for each cotton• all single data is evaluated (900 results for each laboratory)



CSITC Round Trial – Variability Information

• "For all users of instrument test results, it is essential to know about the accuracy and precision of the utilized instruments and methods"– Detailed information about inter-laboratory

variation– Detailed information about in-laboratory

variation (new)

Cotton 1 Cotton 2 Cotton 3 Cotton 4 Average Cotton 5Average of Laboratories (Grubbs) 1,0623 0,9732 1,1478 1,1351 1,1760Number Of Laboratories 74 74 74 74 74 74

SD 0,0104 0,0131 0,0119 0,0128 0,0120 0,0152CV % 1,0 1,3 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,3SD 0,0125 0,0144 0,0126 0,0128 0,0131 0,0177CV % 1,2 1,5 1,1 1,1 1,2 1,5SD 0,0159 0,0170 0,0167 0,0165 0,0165 0,0237CV % 1,5 1,7 1,5 1,5 1,5 2,0SD 0,0060 0,0069 0,0059 0,0058 0,0062 0,0095CV % 0,6 0,7 0,5 0,5 0,6 0,8SD 0,0088 0,0102 0,0103 0,0100 0,0098 0,0158CV % 0,8 1,0 0,9 0,9 0,9 1,3SD 0,0101 0,0116 0,0118 0,0114 0,0112 0,0181CV % 0,9 1,2 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,5

CSITC Round Trial 2007-2: Length Variability

Interlab. Variation

Typical In-Lab. Variation (Median)

based on 30 tests

based on 6 tests

based on single testsbetween different dayswith each 6 testsbetween single testson one daybetween all testson different days

Length based on single valuesn=2220 minus outliers according to Grubbs

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1,08

1,09 1,1

1,11

1,12

1,13

1,14

1,15

1,16

1,17

1,18

1,19

Length, inch

No o

f Lab

s x

No o

f Tes

ts



CSITC Round Trial – Comparison of Results

Micronaire Strength Length Uniformity Color Rd Color +bReference Values Cotton 1 2,511 25,234 1,0623 80,982 72,671 14,517

Cotton 2 4,086 22,445 0,9732 79,041 74,994 12,418Cotton 3 4,351 32,396 1,1478 82,139 77,767 10,272Cotton 4 4,427 27,144 1,1351 82,737 77,827 12,086Cotton 5 4,605 31,405 1,1760 84,333 79,907 8,324

Laboratory Average of All Days Cotton 1 2,473 23,353 1,0397 78,977 72,207 14,403Cotton 2 4,053 20,257 0,9417 76,017 74,713 12,347Cotton 3 4,347 30,553 1,1313 81,137 78,423 10,273Cotton 4 4,353 25,220 1,1140 81,773 77,763 12,137Cotton 5 4,543 30,783 1,1563 84,233 79,077 8,077

Rel. Distance to Reference Cotton 1 -0,038 -1,881 -0,0227 -2,006 -0,464 -0,114Cotton 2 -0,032 -2,188 -0,0315 -3,024 -0,280 -0,072Cotton 3 -0,005 -1,843 -0,0165 -1,003 0,656 0,001Cotton 4 -0,073 -1,924 -0,0211 -0,964 -0,064 0,051Cotton 5 -0,061 -0,622 -0,0197 -0,100 -0,830 -0,248

Mean Absolute Distance to Reference (Cotton 1 - 4 only) 0,037 1,959 0,0230 1,749 0,366 0,059

Scale Factor 0,10 1,50 0,02 1,00 1,50 0,50Summary Evaluation for Each Property 0,37 1,31 1,15 1,75 0,24 0,12

Relevance of Property 1,00 1,00 1,00 1,00 1,00 1,00

Summary Evaluation of All Properties

Performance of Laboratory 72001-1

0,82

"For every laboratory it is important to check regularly, if there is a difference between its results and the results of other laboratories"



CSITC Round Trial – Evaluation/Rating of Labs

"For all users of instrument test results, it is helpful to know about the reliability of cotton testing laboratories and their test results"

Your Evaluation 72001-1 0,82

72007-1 0,2472024-3 0,3072020-1 0,3472025-3 0,3772054-1 0,3872051-2 0,4172041-1 0,4372060-1 0,4572039-3 0,4772003-1 0,4872023-2 0,5172039-2 0,5472008-1 0,5872004-1 0,6472022-2 0,7072018-1 0,7572001-1 0,8272040-1 0,8472023-1 0,9272013-1 1,2572019-2 2,15

Lab.No.

EvaluationCombined Prop.

Lab.No.

EvaluationCombined Prop.

Information for customers.This can e.g. be used

for lab sales promotion.



CSITC Round Trial – Detailed Analysis

• "For laboratories it is additionally useful to get more detailed information about possible reasons for any deviations"

– Detailed analysis ofaccuracy problems

– Analysis of precision/variability problems

Laboratory 72001-1: Length

R2 = 0,9145

-0,05

-0,04

-0,03

-0,02

-0,01

0

0,01

0,02

0,03

0,96

1,01

1,06

1,11

1,16

Reference Value, inch

Devi

atio

n fr

om R

efer

ence

, inc

h

Cotton 1 - 4Single DaysCotton 5Trend (Cotton 1 - 4)

Cotton 1 Cotton 2 Cotton 3 Cotton 4 Average Cotton 5between different days with each 6 tests SD 0,285 0,248 0,254 0,237 0,256 0,395between single tests on one day SD 0,271 0,249 0,268 0,256 0,261 0,417between all tests on different days SD 0,394 0,340 0,362 0,333 0,357 0,598between different days with each 6 tests SD 0,598 0,449 0,137 0,541 0,431 0,410between single tests on one day SD 0,652 0,693 0,634 0,896 0,719 0,889between all tests on different days SD 0,840 0,806 0,632 0,983 0,815 0,928

Typical In-Lab. Variation (Median)

In-Lab. Variation (Your Lab.)

Color Rd



CSITC Round Trial – Conclusion

• The CSITC Round Trial is based on the recommendations and aim of the CSITC Task Force

• The Round Trial is the most important and powerful step towards harmonized and reliable test results

• It was developed in co-operation between the Bremen Fibre Institute and USDA-AMS, and is regularly conducted by these partners

• It is headed by the ICAC as an independent organization

• The regular Round Trial started in January 2007

• Every laboratory is invited to participate to a subsidized fee of 75 USD per Round Trial / 300 USD per year

• For registration, please contact the ICAC or give me a notice– www.icac.org– [email protected]



c) Africa-Specific Objective and Project Activities

• The aim is to assist developing countries to meet the requirements of standardized and harmonized instrument testing, so that they are not at a disadvantage

• This is the core of the project funded by the Common Fund for Commodities and the European Commission

It is not sufficient to check cotton testing laboratories in Africa, but to support them to be able to produce reliable test results.

Support will be given within the regions.The support will be done mainly by the establishment of Regional

Technical Centres (RTCs) in the most important cotton producing regions.



Benefits for Cotton Producing Developing Countries

• High Volume Testing will enable cotton producing developing countries to sell their cotton based on reliable and comparable test results– Avoid price discounts due to unknown properties

– Avoid claims

– Secure/improve their market share

– Use of the test results in the whole textile value added chain

– Monetary benefit regarding higher achievable prices:approx. 3 US-ct/kg



Africa-Specific Activities

• Regional Technical Centres will mainly cover the following activities:

– Reference activities • Re-tests• Regional round trials

– Provision of information• Training• Experience and expertise• Technical information• Regional cooperation

– Routine testing of the regional cotton production where it is demanded

• Additionally there will be direct monetary support to existing laboratories to enhance their testing environment



Africa-Specific Activities: Support Structure

Africa

West Africa East Africa

Regional centres Cerfitexwith Sofitex

TBSwith TCB

Individual Laboratories

CFC international project partnersFaserinstitut Bremen; CIRAD

ICACCSITC Task Force recommendations

International project partners

(Other regions)




Africa

RTC-West RTC-East

Regional TechnicalCentres (RTC)

Cerfitexwith Sofitex

TBSwith TCB

International project partnersFIBRE, CIRAD, USDA, BBB

Other areas in the World

CSITC recommendations / knowledges / skills

a) Training, Support, Expertise for RTCs




b) Regional Training and Regional Round Trials

Africa

RTC-West RTC-East



TBSwith TCB



CSITC recommendations / knowledges / skills




c) International CSITC Round Trials

Africa

RTC-West RTC-East


CSITC round test samples and results


TBSwith TCB






d) Re-Tests on tested samples

Africa

RTC-West RTC-East


CSITC recommendations


TBSwith TCB






e) Audits and Expertise

Africa

RTC-West RTC-East


CSITC recommendations


TBSwith TCB






f) Compatibility with ISO Accreditation

Africa

RTC-West RTC-East



TBSwith TCB



National ISO Certification / Accreditation

Bodies



Africa-Specific Activities: Choice of Regions

Countries to be directly supported in West Africa

Countries to be directly supported in East /

Southern Africa

Countries with indirect support

BeninBurkina FasoIvory Coast

MaliSenegal

Togo

174,000263,000145,000241,00018,00075,000

TanzaniaMozambique

UgandaZambia

Zimbabwe

100,00026,00041,00075,00075,000

CameroonChadEgypt

EthiopiaNigeriaSudan

124,00080,000

292,00023,00095,000

114,000

Cotton fibre production in tons in 2004-2005 (ICAC, September 2005), only countries with more than 10,000 tons of cotton production in season 2004/2005 are mentioned in this table



Africa-Specific Activities: Choice of Regions and Partners

Location of RTC

Full support from RTC

Other type of support from RTC

The Regional Technical Centres are planned to be financial sustainable at the end of the project, so that their support to the laboratories will continue.

RTC West:West and Central Africa:CERFITEX with SOFITEX

RTC East:East and Southern Africa:TBS with TCB



d) Encourage Trading of Cotton Based on Instrument Data

• Up to now trading rules and contracts do mainly contain:– Manual classing results– Micronaire results– Partially strength results: Pressley or HVI

• Customers are demanding instrument test results• CSITC Task Force is encouraging trading of cotton based

on instrument data by e.g. showing the reliability of the results

• CSITC Task Force is supporting the introduction of instrument test results in trading rules / arbitration rules



Summary

In this presentation I tried to explain

– Manual classing in comparison to High Volume Instrument Testing, the advantages, and the perspective towards Instrument Testing

– The ICAC CSITC Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) and its objectives

– The related project funded by the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and the European Commission

– The necessity and steps of testing standardization

– The necessity and steps of testing harmonization

– The CSITC Round Trial as the major step for harmonization

– The Africa specific project activities including the Regional Technical Centres that will be established

– Trading based on instrument test results

Thank youvery muchfor your

attention!

Cotton Quality and Cotton Testing - Actual Developments in Cotton Quality Evaluation -

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