Struggling to meet high-cost pressure, especially due to steep hike in yarn prices, Indian apparel exporters have urged global retailers and brands to increase the price of apparels, which they are sourcing from India.
Increase in cotton yarn prices, coupled with increase in accessories’ prices and dyeing charges, has made the manufacturing of garments costlier.
Substantiating further, the apparel exporters pointed out that the fabric cost for manufacturing garments was Rs. 384.16/kg in the month of August 2020, which has now (March 2021) gone up to Rs. 464.8/kg – that’s an increase of 21 per cent.
Raja M. Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) said that the price increase of knitwear garments from buyers is desperately needed and is need of the hour for Tirupur’s knitwear exports sector so as to sustain in the business and face the challenging business environment that’s prevailing externally and internally since past four months.
It is also pertinent to mention here that further to Union Government’s announcement on increasing minimum support price (MSP) in the current year for cotton (kappas) procured from the farmers, lint (Ginned Cotton) prices have been increased from Rs. 36,016/candy (355.54 kg) in August 2020 to Rs. 46,720/candy in March 2021, and TEA has represented Ministry of Textiles (MoT) to intervene for reduction of cotton prices also.
Though the CCI has reduced the cotton price to Rs. 1,500 per candy and overall there has been reduction in cotton prices by about Rs 2,500 per candy in last two months, apparel exporters believe that it will have very limited impact on the cost of final garment.
Raja says that in the case of organic cotton and spandex yarn, the fabric cost for manufacturing garments was Rs. 439.04/kg in the month of August 2020, which has now (March 2021) gone up to Rs. 648.48/kg, at an increase of 48 per cent.
TEA has appealed to buyers to consider the overall increase in the prices of fabric, which has resulted in increase in the cost of manufacturing of garments, and requested them to come forward and revise the prices of garments to witness a win-win situation for both sides.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
