Egyptian Giza Cotton

Giza 86, 88, 92 & 94 — hand-picked ELS from the Delta

Egyptian cotton is contracted by Giza variety number, not by the country name, and that distinction is the whole commercial story. Giza 45 is the legendary extra long staple grown in a small area of the Delta in tiny volume; Giza 87, 92 and 96 are the current ELS varieties at 1-3/8 inch and above; Giza 86, 90 and 94 are long staple at roughly 1-1/4 to 1-5/16 inch and account for far more of the crop. The fibre's reputation rests on fineness and lustre — micronaire typically 3.2 to 4.2, finer than most Upland — combined with hand picking, which keeps trash and immature fibre low and does far less mechanical damage to the lint than a spindle picker. Classing follows Egyptian government standards alongside HVI, with the Cotton Egypt Association administering the Egyptian Cotton logo and its licensing.

Buy Giza where fineness and lustre are the product and the buyer knows the difference: luxury bedding and sheeting, fine shirting, premium towelling where absorbency and softness carry the sale, and heritage or provenance-led brands. Buy the variety number you actually need, because the gap between an ELS Giza 92 and a long-staple Giza 86 is substantial in both spinning performance and price, and both are legitimately “Egyptian cotton”. That loose usage is exactly where the trade goes wrong. Independent testing has repeatedly found products labelled Egyptian cotton containing little or none, and the volume sold worldwide exceeds Egyptian production by a wide margin. Contract the Giza number, require the licensing chain, and treat a cheap offer of “Egyptian cotton” as what it almost certainly is. CBIL brokers Egyptian cotton against Giza variety, staple, micronaire, strength, grade and Cotton Egypt licensing, on FOB Alexandria and Damietta, CFR and CIF terms.