If you are thinking of buying new jeans, shirts, children's clothes or even socks, move fast — because prices may soon rise.
Squeezed by increased demand from China and a shortage in global supply, cotton prices have doubled over the past 12 months.
In New York cotton fetched more than 1.50 dollars per pound this week, the first time since the fiber began to be traded on the city's markets 140 years ago.
The hike in prices is now set to trickle down to shoppers, as key clothes makers look at raising their prices.
Cotton prices "will have a significant impact on clothing retailers," said Morningstar analyst Zeo Tang.
"Many companies have indicated that we will start seeing the cotton prices affecting the ticket prices in the spring 2011."
Jeans maker Levi's, whose denim products are made almost entirely from cotton, is among those raising its prices.
"The price of raw materials is one of several inputs we use to determine the costs of our products," said Levi's spokeswoman Sarah Anderson.
"We did take selective price increases for Spring 2011 and the rise in cotton prices was one of the contributing factors," she told AFP.
In recent weeks, brands including Jones New York, Hanes, denim producer 7 For All Mankind and outdoor clothing maker North Face have said they expect to raise their prices by up to 10 percent in 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The dramatic rise in global cotton prices is due to tight supply and rising demand.
Last summer's cotton crops were depleted due to massive flooding in Pakistan, severe monsoons in India as well as bad weather in China and the south of the United States — major cotton producing areas.
At the same time, demand for clothes in China and other emerging markets has risen in recent months.
"Lower stocks — amid the recovery in demand — are providing a strong fundamental backdrop for the cotton market but prices are now in uncharted territory," said analysts at Barclays.
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