Apparel Brands To Hike Prices By 10-15 Percent.

For consumers in India, buying clothing after July would mean forking out an additional 30-35 percent, than those prevailing at the same time last year.

Despite a correction in cotton prices, a few apparel brands are expected to hike their prices by a further 10-15 percent around July.

Just a few months back, when raw cotton prices had touched historical highs of Rs 63,000 per candy (1 candy = 356 kg), many of the garment brands had hiked prices by 30-35 percent.

“A few brands have already hiked their prices by between 15-30 percent, while others had increased them marginally, so the second category may increase prices between 5-15 percent”, Mr Harminder Sahni, MD - Wazir Advisors told fibre2fashion.

Dwelling on the factors, he said, “Retail brands have been under severe pressure on the raw material side as well as all other cost affecting factors. First is the raw material itself. Cotton and polyester prices have risen a lot and even though they have come down a little in the last few days, they are still very high.

“Second is the cost of production. Labour cost has become extremely high and labour availability is also a major issue, so all suppliers are increasing their price of manufacture. The third is the 10 percent excise duty which was announced in the February budget.

“Then comes the retailing cost which is the rentals as well as the overall marketing cost, which are also escalating. So the combination of all these factors, has forced retailers to increase the consumer prices”, he explained by saying.

Source : fibre2fashion.com