Better realisations help larger denim makers tide over cotton blues

Raw cotton prices have more than doubled since mid-2020, leading to consolidation with the larger players banking on international business

Listed Gujarat-based denim majors such as Arvind, Nandan Denim and Jindal Worldwide have benefited from healthy exports and consolidation in the domestic market to negate the pressure from skyrocketing input costs, particularly cotton prices.

Surging cotton prices, coupled with other raw materials, have meant that input costs have gone up by 30 per cent.

Raw cotton prices have more than doubled from Rs 35,000 per candy of 356 kg to over Rs 75,000 per candy now since mid-2020. With the denim industry consuming at least 10 per cent of the country’s cotton, the rise in prices has impacted all kinds of players.

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