Cotton price hike effects to start showing in stores in December

Textile producers have already started submitting raw material orders for the spring-summer season products, and bills are already showing prices as much as 35% higher.
The upward trend will maintain, say apparel and linen producers, at least until demand starts nosediving.
"There are several factors that pushed cotton prices up. There were Pakistan floods, and China, which is one of the main producers, but also one of the main consumers of this raw material, no longer exported in order to have sufficient stocks for its own use. The price will rise up to a point, when market demand falls, and the price level needs to adjust," believes Laszlo Dobra, general manager of Secuiana, a major textile producer in Romania.
Sorin Chiriac, the representative of Caremil Roman producer, blames the price increase on speculations, as investors have shifted to raw materials.
Caremil's manager says that as far as Romania is concerned, higher cotton prices will start showing on the price tag of apparel as products reach store shelves ahead of Christmas.
Producers know the biggest players are calling the shots on the market, but are also aware the competition will be equally hurt by the price hike. The problem, however, is at consumer level, as consumers already having a lower shopping budget.