Major apparel makers and leading brands like Nahar Group, Duke, Malwa Group and Rage are planning to raise prices of their garments by 5 to 10 per cent in view of rising prices of cotton and yarn.
Anticipating hit on profitability due to spiralling cotton prices, readymade garment makers are of the view that they are left with no option except to pass on the burden to customers by hiking the prices while insisting that the proposed hike is not enough to neutralise the impact of jump in cotton and yarn rates.
"We will be increasing the rates of our summer wear, which is into production now, by 5 to 7 per cent as the cotton prices have gone up sharply which has jacked up our input cost," Duke Group Chairman Komal Jain told PTI. Duke, which is famous for its T-shirts, has decided to book orders of its summer wear from its wholesalers at increased rates.
Garment makers start producing summer wear during months of October till January. The delivery of apparels to dealers and wholesalers start flowing from February month.
Cotton rates this year surged by 25-30 per cent to Rs 3,200-3,300 per quintal because of cotton export and expected low yield.
Reeling under the pressure of rising input cost, spinning mills raised the rates of cotton yarn by 20-25 per cent, which aggravated the woes of fabric and readymade garments makers, industry experts pointed out.
Ludhiana-based Nahar Group also plans to increase the rates of garments by 10-12 per cent.
"Definitely, rising cotton prices is major cause of worry for garment and fabric makers. That is why we feel the prices of ready made garments may increase by 10-12 per cent and fabric prices by 20 per cent," Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd (NIEL) Managing Director Kamal Oswal said.
NIEL supplies fabric to major brands like Mudra Garments, Raymonds, Color Plus, Provogue, Allen Solly. It also sells readymade garments under the brand of 'Cotton County'.
Rage, another premium brand in women wear, has also made up its mind to raise rates of its upcoming summer garments by up to 10 per cent in the wake of rising yarn rates.
Besides, companies are also planning to bargain hard with their foreign buyers to push for booking export orders at enhanced rates. "We will try to push for increasing export order rates by 5 to 7 per cent although it is difficult to discern how buyers will respond to it," Malwa Industries President Tarun Chawla said.
Malwa Industries is one of the largest producers of denim fabric and denim garments in the country. It supplies its products to UK-based brands like Marks & Spencer and Topman.