World shortage may cause cotton price rise

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33433, 15 January 1974, Page 1

World shortage may cause cotton price rise

The New Zealand housewife may find herself paying 50 per cent more for household linen from now on. An acute world shortage of C 7 cotton has forced the price up.

Major retail outlets in Christchurch confirmed yesterday that the voracious appetite of countries like China and Japan for cotton was largely' responsible for its shortage in the West.

Japan has already bought the lion’s share of the 1971 cotton crop and this will make matters worse elsewhere.

Serious flooding in other cotton producing countries such as India. Pakistan and Bangladesh has had a heavy bearing on the present shortage.

The retailers say that while the goods like sheets, pillow cases, shirts and other items containing cotton are in reasonable supply, they may be much harder to get later this year. One store which makes and; sells its own linen has been; unable to hold prices be-' cause of the shortage of; cotton. Late in 1972 the price of raw cotton was 23c per lb but last month the going rate was $1 per lb. Major producing countries in the East are supplying most of their raw cotton to the easiest markets—Japan and China. The supply of cotton from India has diminished because severe climatic conditions have de[stroyed large slices of the i crop. Towels short? One Christchurch store predicts that towels will be hard to come by this year because of crop problems in India and Pakistan the two traditional suppliers of towelling. Production at the store’s mills has been outstripped by sales as a result of housewives buying up ahead of either shortages or higher prices.

The present wholesale i prices of new supplies of ; household linen show a 50 [per cent increase on present I retail prices. i For example, a pair of .single sheets which cost ; 84.40 before Christmas are (now selling at about $6.40. Household linen containing polyesters will also be dearer because some of the polyester is derived from oil. j While opinions vary about

the merits of polyester combined with cotton compared with pure cotton, it is likely that a greater amount of polyester will be used in sheets and other linen. The management of one large drapery firm in Christchurch says that the price of cotton goods for use next summer is unlikely to be any higher than the price the [ housewife will have to pay i for winter goods.