Cotton Prices Hit A 10-Year High, Causing Jeans To Become Expensive

Cotton prices continue to rise this year, cotton t-shirts, jeans and other ready-made clothing products also rose.

Cotton futures prices rose by about 6% last week and by about 47% this year; It reached $1.16 per pound on the 8th, the highest since July 7, 2011.

Consumer news and business channel (CNBC) reported on the 10th that consumers have felt the impact of cotton price rise, and the profits of garment enterprises have also been eroded.

Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist of the National Retail Federation, was quoted as saying that the unit price of cotton t-shirts increased by an average of $1.5 to $2.

"It's an unusual situation," Zep Berg, CEO of Lihui, a famous jeans brand, said in a earnings call last week that the company has adjusted its product pricing ahead of time, so it can withstand the pressure of rising cotton prices, and this will continue.

Robert Samuels, an analyst at UBS group, predicts that retailers who sell jeans are most affected by the rise in cotton prices.

More than 90% of jeans are made of cotton. Each pair of jeans requires about two pounds of cotton material, which accounts for about 20 percent of the cost, said hallmit Singh, chief financial officer of Lihui.

CNBC believes that extreme weather is one of the main factors affecting cotton harvest and pushing up prices. As the world's leading cotton exporter, the U.S. cotton harvest is affected by drought and heat waves. India's lack of rainfall also threatens cotton production.

(source: Beijing Youth Daily)

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