Rising Cotton Prices Put The T-Shirt Industry Under Pressure

Sept. 28, 2010 - PRLog -- Cotton prices have doubled over the last 12 months and with the recent devastating floods in Pakistan, the world’s largest cotton grower, prices are set to stay high for the foreseeable future. This is putting a considerable strain on  t-shirt manufacturers and t-shirt printing companies. With the economy as fragile as it is the end user is unwilling to pay more for their orders. This is leading to manufacturers soaking up most of the increases; however two of the worlds leading t-shirt manufacturers Gildan, and Fruit of the Loom have announced they will be increasing their prices by an average of 5%, this is the third increase this year, with more increases to come in December.
 Over the last 10 years shoppers have enjoyed year on year clothing deflation. Since 1998 the cost of clothing has fell by an average of 2.6% each year. This has been been driven by the rise in budget clothing chains like Primark, however  Primark are now reluctantly warning of steep price hikes. Primark finance director John Bason wouldn’t divulge his forecasts for the coming year but warned: “The pricing environment is a tough one for the consumer.”
A few companies, particular online retailers are still managing to fight off the increases. One such company t-shirt wholesalers http://www.buytshirtsonline.co.uk/ is refusing to raise any prices on their Fruit of the Loom range. Sales Manager Gary Firth is still determined to keep his prices as low as possible. “We realise that times are tough out there and want to reassure our customers that they can rely on us to keep the prices of all our Fruit of the Loom products the same until the end of the year”
But with more price increases almost inevitable in January and the V.A.T increase to 20% consumers must realise that the days of the £1.00 t-shirt may be over for good.