Panic in the curtains business as cotton costs shoot up

May 13
08:02

2011

Mara Brown

Mara Brown

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The rate of raw stuff such as clothing and polyester has increased a lot in the recent past and keeps moving this upward trend on a daily basis.

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The cost of clothing has gone up between 60% - 80% since mid 2010 and keep moving to going up in price because of shortages caused by low level inventories being kept down during the worldwide recession and this year’s crop again being knocked down by inconsistent weather and intense rain in China,Panic in the curtains business as cotton costs shoot up  Articles India & Pakistan who in total supply almost fifty percent of the global textiles.
Few big names have been providing ideas that cotton production may not hold up with utilization for almost two years. This has been bunched up with a higher than predicted increase in demand not only from the United States as it climbs out of economic downfall but also from the competitive markets in the Far East. The cost of polyester has also risen swiftly in the last week with raise of 30% - 40% on raw supplies with holders predicting that this upward trend in costs is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The knock on effect of this has been panic booking in the markets and many
weaving companies have factually stopped production this week. The condition is so uneven at the time being that we have been clued up by one of the trusted suppliers that they expect 60% of the manufacturing factories to have closed down manufacturing by the end of the month.
The larger businesses like NEXT are not immune to this price hike and have announced to customers that upcoming year will be having a rate increase in all of their range. A regular shopper in Primark yesterday only told me that a piece which cost £4 in January 2010 is now £7 in 2011 April. This is really a 75% change in price!
Andy Ryman, Administrator of one of the UK’s main online curtains and cushions shop, recently outcome in an interview that since Jan 2011 they have been up-warding their textile relevant retail prices by 15-35 percent. No doubt you’ll appreciate this is a massive increase in outlays. When asked if sales have been affected, the response was, “Yes surely, have a look on these curtains and cushions for paradigm, we formerly retailed the cushions for only 5 euro per cover. Now the costs are £9 with a very big drop in profit to uphold value for our clients. This has badly affected sales through all our channels and we are lucky to be diversifying into other industries external of textiles to continue to exist. Many organizations without this exterior advantage will undoubtedly suffer. Customers now only pay money for what they require and cart totals are markedly  low on our website. Customers are not choosing accessories such as tie backs to accompany their curtains without deliberation, now it’s become a comfort to have them with your curtains!”

Going for a walk around in one of the warehouses I couldn’t restrain myself but had a sight of the empty shelves; which was briefed by Andy, that they are a end result of producers in China who are declining to supply the commodities in view of rising rates in future, even though they had material available for immediate dispatch. For example she continued “These cushions and tie backs manufactured from cotton have been the most demanding assortment in terms of number, now we  may not be able to confirm any orders because of lack of supply”.
Cotton & Polyster is hurriedly coming up as a product like gold; who would have ever predicted that

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