Cotton Yarn

Carded & combed, ring and open-end, Ne 10 to Ne 80

Cotton yarn is contracted on count, spinning system and quality class, and the three interact. Count is expressed in the English system as Ne — the higher the number the finer the yarn, running from Ne 10 for heavy weaving and denim through Ne 20 to 30 for general knitting up to Ne 60 and above for fine shirting, which requires long or extra long staple fibre to spin at all. Spinning system divides ring-spun, which is stronger, smoother and used for quality knitwear and shirting, from open-end or rotor spun, which is faster, cheaper, bulkier and suits denim, towelling and heavy fabrics. Quality class divides carded from combed: combing removes short fibres and neps, producing a cleaner, stronger, more even yarn at a cost of roughly 15 to 20% fibre loss, which is why combed yarn costs materially more. Contracts also specify twist, single or doubled construction, greige or dyed, and evenness and imperfection counts on Uster or equivalent testing.

Buy yarn rather than lint when you knit or weave but do not spin — which is most of the garment industry. It removes the capital, technical and labour burden of spinning and lets you buy exactly the count and quality a fabric needs. The trade-off is control and margin: you are accepting someone else's fibre selection and spinning quality, and paying their conversion margin. Match the specification to the fabric honestly. Combed ring-spun Ne 40 for fine jersey and shirting; carded open-end Ne 16 for denim; carded ring-spun in the middle for general knitwear. Paying for combed compact yarn in a heavy towelling is money the finished product will not show. CBIL brokers cotton yarn against count, spinning system, quality class, twist, construction and Uster parameters, on FOB Indian, Pakistani, Vietnamese and Turkish ports, CFR and CIF terms.