Wholesale cotton clothing prices to rise

Inc

reasing cotton prices and labour costs in China more expensive than ever will leave international retailers facing wholesale clothes prices up to 15 per cent higher than in 2010.

In

ternational rating agency Fitch said recently that US consumers would probably face an increase in the price of apparel as retailers face the first prolonged sprout of cotton inflation since the 1990s, reported the Financial Times.

Nobody in the industry will be able to avoid the price rise, which are marking a 20-year period during which clothing costs declined as western manufacturers shifted more production to low-cost emerging markets.

JC Penney, Levi Strauss or VF Corporation are just a few examples of how big actors in the textile and apparel industry are suffering price increases between 5% and 20% in the second half of this year alone.

Companies producing basics such as denim wear or cotton t-shirts, will be the most affected ones, as they would probably have to pass on the increasing prices to their customers, what might result in a decrease of the sales volume.

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