LUBBOCK, TX – (Sept. 21, 2016) – Lubbock-based Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) today announced total net margins of $23.8 million from fiscal 2015-16 operations. The announcement was made during the cooperative’s 63rd annual meeting of grower-owners in Lubbock. Further cash distributions to PCCA’s grower-owners in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico that will be completed this month are comprised of $9.5 million in cash dividends and stock retirements totaling $9.4 million.
“Every division of PCCA contributed added value to our grower-owners’ cotton this past fiscal year,” said PCCA President and CEO Kevin Brinkley. “Facing another challenging year, our marketing team was able to move both pools completely to the market by March despite weak demand and burdensome world stocks, both of which weighed on prices,” Brinkley added. Another hurdle during the year was Turkey’s imposition of a three percent duty on U.S. cotton imported by the country’s textile mills.
“Our marketing team utilized the leverage of scale and selection of cotton in our pools to maximize the returns generated for our grower-owners,” Brinkley said. “By the numbers, our pool members reaped more than $118 million above the Commodity Credit Corporation loan.” PCCA’s Warehouse Division also contributed solid returns.
“We received the fifth largest volume in the division’s history which is a good problem to have,” Brinkley reported. “Our warehouse team adjusted our storage techniques and flow practices to handle the larger volume.” He also said PCCA’s Board and management team continue to look at strategies to improve the value of all cotton marketed through the cooperative.
“Ensuring that PCCA keeps its grower-owners competitive in the future is a high priority for the board of directors and management of this company,” Brinkley said. “We compete in a global cotton market that has changed significantly over the past 10 years. Over the past few months, we have worked hard to understand the current and future needs of our grower-owners, their gins, our customers and market trends. Therefore, PCCA’s new mission is ‘to ensure the long-term profitability of our grower-owners through value-added marketing programs and through services to their gins,’” Brinkley continued. “PCCA’s vision is to be the first-choice marketer to cotton growers through its leadership and market power in the industry.”
In other business during the annual meeting, the following directors were re-elected: Robert Robbins, District 1; Mark True, District 2; and Dean Vardeman, District 6. Dahlen Hancock was elected director from District 7, to replace the retiring David Pearson.
Founded in 1953, PCCA today is owned by approximately 15,000 cotton producers in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico and is one of the largest originators of U.S. cotton to merchants and textile mills worldwide. The cooperative also owns warehouse facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas with combined capacity to store more than one million bales and provides software service to gins and producers.
