Tirupur hosiery prices fall

Tirupur’s knitwear products have become five per cent cheaper. This is for the first time

in the history of the Tirupur knitwear cluster that the prices of end products were scaled down in tandem with the decline of raw material prices. And that’s a relief because products like T-shirts, briefs, kids’ wear and women’s undergarments produced from the Tirupur cluster had become dearer by a whopping 73 per cent since January 2008. Prices went up by 15 per cent in April this year, the highest increase in a single shot in the last few decades. This happened mainly due to the steep increase in prices of yarn, which is the main raw material for the industry. The reason for the cost reduction is due to the demand from buyers following yarn price reduction and to remain competitive in the market.

Yarn prices have now come down from Rs 257 a kg in May to a low of Rs 175 a kg on July 7. At present, hosiery products from the cluster find market in New Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Kerala, among other states. The Tirupur textile cluster is spread across the town and there are as many as 2,000 plus units large and small engaged in textiles business. It is the largest textile cluster consisting of 100 per cent export oriented units. It is dominated by knitting, garment manufacturing, fabric, embroidery and dyeing and bleaching units. The units are run in a single shift, and certain units which are having a direct link with export houses run in two or three shifts.