Cotton price hike hits shoppers
Source: Xinhua |
November 18, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S consumers are feeling the cold blast of inflation when they go shopping for cotton-padded coats to keep out the winter's chill.
For cotton prices have soared by more than 50 percent since September, sending the price of a host of everyday items rocketing.
When Cao Xinru, an advertising company employee from east China's Shandong Province went shopping last weekend, she discovered that her monthly salary allowed her to purchase only two cotton-padded coats.
"The price of clothes has risen a lot this year, especially cotton-padded coats," said Cao, who earns 3,000 yuan (US$451) a month.
Other textile products, such as towels and bedding, have also become more expensive, said Yu Hui, textile department manager of Yinzuo Shopping Plaza in Jinan.
In Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, cotton-padded coat prices have risen 30 percent since last year.
"I used to sell seven pieces a day last year, but almost none this year," said Ren Min, a clothes dealer in Hohhot.
"Customers think I have raised the price, but I just follow the price rises from my suppliers," she said.
The soaring price of cotton since the end of 2009 has impacted many Chinese enterprises.
According to the latest figures on Cottonchina.org, the price of cotton has risen from about 18,000 yuan to 28,500 yuan per ton since September 1.
Dezhou City in Shandong, 300 kilometers from Beijing, is one of the major cotton production locations in China.
"The price of unginned cotton climbed from last September's six yuan to 8.3 yuan per kilogram in May," said Ma Junkai, deputy general secretary of Dezhou Municipal Cotton Association.
The price of cotton yarn has doubled to 37,000 yuan per ton, prompting companies to wait and see rather than store materials, Yu said.
"The price of towels will soon rise for the fourth time this year, and the price of bedding will also increase in a few days," he said.
Experts attribute cotton's soaring price to growing demand from India and America and a fall in planting acreage in China.
Cotton from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, accounting for one-third of China's total output, will soon appear on the market, which is expected to relieve the situation.
Shoppers are facing price increases across the board. The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 4.4 percent in October.
"Price pressures are growing," said Cao Xinru. "I need to plan my shopping carefully this winter."
For cotton prices have soared by more than 50 percent since September, sending the price of a host of everyday items rocketing.
When Cao Xinru, an advertising company employee from east China's Shandong Province went shopping last weekend, she discovered that her monthly salary allowed her to purchase only two cotton-padded coats.
"The price of clothes has risen a lot this year, especially cotton-padded coats," said Cao, who earns 3,000 yuan (US$451) a month.
Other textile products, such as towels and bedding, have also become more expensive, said Yu Hui, textile department manager of Yinzuo Shopping Plaza in Jinan.
In Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, cotton-padded coat prices have risen 30 percent since last year.
"I used to sell seven pieces a day last year, but almost none this year," said Ren Min, a clothes dealer in Hohhot.
"Customers think I have raised the price, but I just follow the price rises from my suppliers," she said.
The soaring price of cotton since the end of 2009 has impacted many Chinese enterprises.
According to the latest figures on Cottonchina.org, the price of cotton has risen from about 18,000 yuan to 28,500 yuan per ton since September 1.
Dezhou City in Shandong, 300 kilometers from Beijing, is one of the major cotton production locations in China.
"The price of unginned cotton climbed from last September's six yuan to 8.3 yuan per kilogram in May," said Ma Junkai, deputy general secretary of Dezhou Municipal Cotton Association.
The price of cotton yarn has doubled to 37,000 yuan per ton, prompting companies to wait and see rather than store materials, Yu said.
"The price of towels will soon rise for the fourth time this year, and the price of bedding will also increase in a few days," he said.
Experts attribute cotton's soaring price to growing demand from India and America and a fall in planting acreage in China.
Cotton from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, accounting for one-third of China's total output, will soon appear on the market, which is expected to relieve the situation.
Shoppers are facing price increases across the board. The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 4.4 percent in October.
"Price pressures are growing," said Cao Xinru. "I need to plan my shopping carefully this winter."
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