What is Cartoon? 

As we all know  

“It’s a simple drawing showing the features of its subjects in a humorously exaggerated way”. 

As far as our industry is concerned cotton is the recent cartoon. Cotton is the biggest talking point of our industry day in and day out. As we have been using it in large quantum in our textile needs, hence it is a big challenge to maintain a business without cotton. 

Considering this reality can we continue to accept the market challenges and movement in terms of price increases of cotton fiber and yarn to move forward in the business continuously. Be it export or the domestic requirement, the price increase of raw material which is passed on to the product cost and end consumers will vanish the business and business will shift to other countries and hubs slowly. Though we know this fact still we continue passing the price increase to the next level, the business will sink & one fine day the business will crash.

If we think the cotton price increase is the scenario of only our country then our understanding is incorrect. Globally also the trend of cotton prices increase remains higher than before. Now Question running in our minds for quite some time, and we are in the search of an answer to this.

Why do cotton prices keep going up?  

Ground reality

As per my knowledge and what I have learned through my experience are listed below as a broad outline. 

Trends that have changed/happened in the last decade are the main reason for this. 

Till a few years ago across the globe there were various types of cotton. India too had its share of 24 mm 25 mm 27 mm 30 mm 32 mm and 36 mm. Today with hybrid BT seeds- most cotton has collapsed into a narrow bandwidth of between 28 to 30 mm. Very little comes in 31 mm. Almost nothing comes in 26 mm.

BTW – what are BT seeds? The answer is here.

BT seeds -transgenic crops that are genetically engineered from the DNA of bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis.” Bt Crops are transgenic crops that produce the same toxin as the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis in the plant cell, thereby, protecting the crops from pests.) 

• Fashion industry also has changed a lot. PC spinning and other blended spinning have increased exponentially with polyester as an example starting from 20% to 90%. This micro consumption of cotton by polyester/MMF mills has grown multifood along with polyester/MMF capacity addition.
• Technology in spinning has become so superior that today normal mills can spin 60 and 80’s count with 29/30 mm. Almost all mills have gone compact spinning which requires combed but can do with 30 mm and long-staple is not required for 40’s and above counts. Bedspreads and ethnic wear manufactured out of India have grown leaps and bounds over the last decade which consume a lot of fine counts.
• Weaving and knitting are no more mono fiber-based but multi fiber-based where the warp is polyester and weft is cotton for the sake of product pricing and affordability depending on needs and end-use in terms of properties. 
• Non-woven usage in diapers, use and throw products, and paper products are all using cotton in very low % like 1 or 2%. 

I can read your mind voice so what? Let’s see this movement in various sectors.

How do these trends affect cotton prices?

Factual impacts

1. MMF blending. An MMF spinner who blends 20% cotton or 30% cotton can afford a cotton price of around 80,000 per candy, for his mixing cost will go up only by 3 to 5 ₹ per kg 
2. Fine count spinner of the 60s and 80s is using the same cotton as a coarse count spinner of 20s, 30s, and 40s. A fine count spinner selling his yarn at plus 500 ₹ per kg can afford a cotton price of 60,000-70,000 ₹ per candy while a coarse count spinner can only afford 40,000-45,000 ₹ per candy maximum.
3. A weaver doing specialty products and mixing blended yarns in weaving can afford a higher yarn price which is the reason why Indian Sateen bedspread exports with high thread count have gone from 100% cotton in warp and weft to now 60% of the exports being warp cotton and weft filament polyester
4. Most Indian denim weavers have moved to warp cotton weft filament polyester and terry towel weavers have gone towards base yarns being spun PC with pile alone being 100% cotton 
5. Non-woven user or paper mill can afford a price of 100,000 ₹ per candy for he uses less than 1% or a disposal non-woven diaper is sold at almost 2000 per kg for it hardly weighs 5 gms

These changing patterns and affordability of cotton and cotton yarn prices by other Non-cotton segments have helped push up cotton prices over the last decade and will push them up further in the next decade as well. Hope we got an answer to this sensitive question now to some extent.

Solution 

Considering the above fact we should look for alternatives rather than expecting cotton or cotton yarn prices to come down anytime soon. Rather than complaining that cotton exports should be banned or yarn exports should be banned which might happen or might not.

As the government had taken a trial stand of NIL duty on cotton imports for 5 ½ months based on the results final decision would go either way which is not in our hands. Hence as industry experts what is that we should do now is a question to ask ourselves?

• Use more fiber types to average out the cost. 
• Use more yarn types to enhance product usability and fashion but keep product costs the same.
• Banana fibers, hemp, and PET bottle polyester are new fibers that have entered the ecosystem. Recycled polyester yarns, post-consumer waste yarns have all entered the stream and are priced lower than polyester yarns 
• Intense product development efforts have to be made by the cotton spinning, knitting, and weaving industry. 

The price of 30s 100% polyester was 130 ₹, 100% cotton was 200 ₹, and 220 ₹ for 100% Viscose about 2-3 years ago. The pricing now is increased between polyester & viscose by 25-50% in the case of cotton it is 100% (double the time and above) which speaks volumes about the intended efforts put in by all of us in terms of replacing the cotton with the mix of other fiber bases if not 100% considering the ecological balance and the limitations of those fibers in terms of performance and characteristics.

The price of cotton and cotton-based products will increase with limited supplies and varying uses over time which is inevitable due to present market reality & situations. 

While recycled MMF will be the price and value user and blends of the same will be for fashion and usability of the future. So strong product development, fashion elements, marketing, and ensuring the demand vs supply gap fulfillment on non-cotton fibers and yarns hold the KEY to the future; to have a stable and sustainable solution for the textile industry. It’s time for each of us to sail in that direction so that the textile/apparel ecosystem overcomes the present challenge and eases out.

Hope you got the real facts about cotton and cotton pricing, it’s time to move on with alternatives. What do you think? If you enjoy reading this article please do like, write and comment and share with others.

RELATED TOPICS:#Apparel,Ramesh Gunasekaran