Rising demand for cotton

As cotton costs rise, so must clothing prices at Kathy Hoermann's business.

Hoermann, a San Antonio clothes maker, noticed the cost of cotton fabric went up at least 30 percent in the past year. To offset the cost — and to try to keep prices down — she bought other less expensive types of fabric, including rayon blends, linen and faux silks. But it wasn't enough, so she instead has been increasing her prices by 30 percent to match the higher production costs.

“Everything's gone up, even polyester,” Hoermann said. “The worst has been cotton.”

Hoermann specializes in women's jackets, suits and business casual attire. For the past 25 years she has designed and made garments for her clothing line, Painted Pony, at a warehouse on Recoleta Road and sells them at wholesale nationwide. She also has a Painted Pony retail store on McCullough Avenue.

The business owner said she also raised prices because of climbing gas costs. According to AAA, the price of gas in San Antonio was $3.79 on Monday, up $1.09 compared to the same day one year ago.

John Robinson, an economist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, said the price of cotton has more than doubled in the past year because of bad weather and increasing demand.

“It was a number of things that all lined up in a perfect storm,” Robinson said.

China, the world's biggest cotton producer, had cold, wet weather that contributed to a poor crop. Flooding in Pakistan hurt production, and India put strict limits on exports. Even before the bad weather, farmers had been producing less because they turned to more lucrative crops such as corn for ethanol production.

Now demand has increased because of the improving world economy.

“Demand caught (farmers) by surprise,” Robinson said. “There wasn't enough cotton in storage from previous seasons as we thought.”

The world price of cotton in March was nearly $2.30 per pound, according to the most recent data provided by the National Cotton Council of America. During the same month last year, it cost about 86 cents per pound.

Regulars at the Painted Pony store on Monday afternoon said they have noticed clothing at some stores going up in price or down in quality.

“Prices are just going up on everything,” shopper Rebecca Boles said. “Fabrics have gotten thinner, different. There are sometimes some other fibers in it that make it weird.”

Deborah Escalante, a seamstress and designer based in San Antonio, said that while it's difficult for consumers to keep up with higher costs, many women still are willing to pay more for high-quality garments.

“The economy is hurting and squeezing the consumer more and more. Higher prices are going to happen,” Escalante said. Still, “as a woman, I am willing to invest in my garments rather than just (buy) throwaway stuff that won't last the season or the year.”

Rudy De Leon, owner of Rudy's Custom Upholstery and Design, said his business also has been paying about 30 percent more for materials in the past year — translating to about $70,000 more compared to one year before. In addition to higher cotton and transportation costs, the custom furniture builder also has to pay more for lumber and other materials.

Costs for oil-based synthetic fabrics are also going up. One yard of acrylic fabric cost De Leon about $12 last year — now he pays as much as $50 for the same amount.

He has not raised prices accordingly out of fear for driving away customers, and De Leon said he's preparing for even higher prices.

“We're just having to eat the costs,” De Leon said. “We're making less. It's a struggle until the economy gets better, I hope.”

(Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Rising-demand-for-cotton-1362428.php)