Jeans Could Get Pricey After Cotton Prices Reach a Decade High
- Futures breach $1 a pound mark amid strong global demand
- Pricier cotton means inflation for apparel could be coming
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Cotton futures raced past $1 a pound for the first time in nearly a decade as adverse weather and shipping snags threaten supplies, driving up costs for clothing around the world.
Crops in several key-growing countries are seeing problems, from rain-drenched fields in the U.S. to bollworm-infested ones in India. At the same time, cotton buyers need more of the fiber. Mexico and China are buying record amounts. Also causing trouble for supplies are high freight rates and geopolitics, with international backlash about labor violations in Xinjiang, China’s biggest producing region. The U.S. banned imports earlier this year.