A cotton row at Ronnie Burleson's farm in New London, NC
If you’re the kind of person who occasionally buys things, you’ve probably noticed those things get a bit more expensive in the past few months. That’s because, on average, commodity prices (read, the prices of basic components like metals or food crops) have increased quite a bit over the last year or so.
Unfortunately, cotton is uncommonly volatile. In February 2010, cotton prices were around $0.80/lb, a price that was, at the time, quite high. In fact, prices had only been that high once in the past decade. Fast forward to February 2011, and prices are around $1.72, over double.
Many of the big t-shirt manufacturers – Gildan, Hanes, Anvil – tend to invest in cotton futures on a regular basis in order to insure against short-term price jumps. Unfortunately, this increase isn’t short-term. As a result, expect to see clothing prices steadily increase anywhere between 30-100% over the next 6 months.
At TSD, we’re no exception. Due to cotton price increases, we are forced to raise the prices of our NC-made certified organic and Cotton of the Carolinas t-shirts.
We hope you’ll understand and work with us to find a product that fits your budgetary and sustainability needs; now is the time to be investing in more local, sustainable products!