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Abstract
The paper reviews the evolution of U.S. cotton transportation and logistics patterns over the last
three decades. There have been many forces of change over this time period, with the largest
change being a shift from primarily domestic market destinations to the international market. We
describe the pre-1999 system and flow patterns when domestic consumption of U.S. cotton was
dominant. We contrast this with current flow patterns as measured by available secondary export
data and a sample of survey data from Texas cotton warehouses. The survey data show similar
shipment destinations and modes of transportation for Texas cotton as observed in the Mid-1990s.
The main difference is the increased percentage of export destinations, reflecting the transformation
of the U.S. cotton industry into an export industry.