Chinese Prefold Price Decrease - Effective
February 4, 2012
With the further decrease of
cotton prices we are able to lower our Chinese Prefold
prices from 3.7 to 7.4% depending upon the size.
Although raw cotton prices have done down since mid 2011
other costs such as currency devaluation, transportation and
labor have gone up which have largely offset the decrease in
cotton prices. Thus this price decrease is less than
we had hoped. Currently our Chinese Prefolds are
roughly the same price as our Indian cotton prefolds.
However, we hope to lower our Indian Cotton prefold prices
next summer provided that raw material and other costs
remain stable. For updated prices login to your
wholesale account on our website or e-mail us to request an
unpdate price list. Note that we also lowered prices
on our Chinese Prefolds last October.
Prefold
and Flat Price Decrease - Effective
October 1, 2011
With the fall of
cotton
prices this summer we are just starting to see a decrease in
manufacturing costs. As a result we are able to
announce
our first ever price decrease! This will apply to all
imported prefold and flat diapers. The effective date
for this price decrease is October 1, 2011. We will
make
the new prices available in our online shopping cart as soon
as September 20th. After falling quickly during July
of
this year the price of cotton has stablized at a new level
that is significantly higher than before prices starting
rising during 2010. If prices fall further we may be
able to decrease our prices again during the 1/4 of
2012. It is our hope that good international harvests
will drive cotton prices lower but already US harvests are
looking poor due to both flooding and drought.
The average price decrease is a little over 9%. Some
sizes are decreasing only about 5% others closer to
12%.
Updated MSRPs will be provided with the new price list that
we
will send out with orders during October. The price
increase would have been higher if it were based on cotton
alone. Unfortunately the value of the US dollar has
continued its decline and shipping costs have also
risen. The good news is the price decrease and at
least
the possibility of further declines next year.
Cotton
Prices Update - July 6, 2011
Raw cotton prices have fallen from their historic highs
earlier in the
year. Instead of raw cotton being near 300% of what it was
in mid
2010 it is now closer to 200% of the mid 2010 level.
Because it
takes several months for us to order, produce and receive
shipments our
costs are still at historic levels. However, beginning in
October
our costs should start going down and we expect to have a
general price
cut on all prefold cloth diapers some time this fall.
However, if
there are any new cotton crop disasters such as those of late
2010 raw
cotton prices could increase again and a price decrease may not
be
possible. We are keeping our fingers crossed for an
abundant
world wide cotton harvest.
Notice:
April
29,
2011 Price Increases on Prefold & Flat Cloth Diapers.
(updated)
Because of continued high cotton prices we are announcing a price
increase that will be effective April 28th. Depending upon the
size and style and country of manufacture the prices will increase
10-20%. The average price increase is about 13%. Prices
for
cotton have remained high since critical crop failures in China and
Pakistan last fall, creating supply shortages in an already tight
cotton market. The supply shortages, increased world wide
demand
for cotton, and finally commodities speculation by large financial
institutions with no actual stake in the industry have resulted in
cotton prices increasing from approximately $0.75 per pound to over
$2.00 per pound over the past 8 months. Our previous price
increase (December 2010) was based on cotton prices of about $1.35
per
pound. Our current prices are based on cotton purchased at
about
$1.75 per pound. If prices stay at $2.00 per pound or start to
rise again, another price increase may be necessary.
The only way we are able to limit our price increase to an average
of
about 13% at this time is by cutting our own margins significantly,
sacrificing profit now, betting that cotton prices will decline next
year. If cotton crops make it to harvest without the kind of
severe weather issues from last year it is possible prices may begin
to
decrease by first quarter of 2012.
Keep in mind that many sectors of our economy are being impacted by
high commodities prices including higher fuel prices, higher
clothing
prices and higher food prices. In terms of the cotton impact
hotels for example are reporting replacement sheets and towels have
gone up 60% since the start of the year. Even the US
Government
announced that printing currency has increased 50% as cotton prices
have increased currency printing costs. "Paper" money is actual a
blend
of 70% cotton and 30% linen. Like cotton diapers the 100 %
cotton
massage sheets we also manufacture have also seen substantial
wholesale
price increase since late last year. The point is that it is
not
just cotton diapers that are increasing in price. Rather everything
made of cotton and many other items are increasing substantially in
price this year based on high commodities prices.
An updated price list is now available upon request for our
customers. A copy of which, will ship with all orders for
about
the next 45-60 days. Again the effective date for the price
increase will be April 28. Orders placed before that time will
be
based on current pricing. Please note this advance notice is a
courtesy for our valued customers. Our prices are always
subject
to change without notice. If you missed this notice we
apologize.
Worldwide
Cotton
Prices
Continue to Rise - 2/16/11
Today cotton prices closed in on $2.00 per pound compared to $0.80
per
pound in the summer of 2010. This is more than a 35% increase since
the
start of the year and a 150% increase since last summer. For
more
information see this Wall Street Journal briefing at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703373404576148062341738394.html
.
Due
to these steep cotton prices our December price increase is
not going to be reversed as we had hoped. Rather it is just a
matter of time until we will have to further raise our prices.
More than clothing, prefold and flat diapers are tied to the price
of
cotton as they require very little sewing compared to
clothing.
Diaper services, embroiderers and retailers should plan on
substantial
further price increases.
December
Price
Increases
In Effect - 12/23/10
Both price increases summarized below have been put in
effect. Prices for raw cotton have surged again in the
past
two weeks. In fact Cotton Futures prices traded at an all time
high on December 21. If prices for cotton continue to increase
we
may have to raise prices again by March. We are hoping that
the
raw cotton prices improve before that point making an additional
price
increase unnecessary.
Price
Increases
Finalized
- 11/29/10
All existing customers can call or e-mail for an up to date price
listing catalog which we can mail or e-mail to you. Our first
price increase will be on the Chinese Prefolds and Bleached Flat
Diapers and will be effective December 5th. Back orders at
current prices will not be accepted. The price increase on
Chinese Prefolds and Bleached Flat Diapers will be 19-22%. As
of
today we have sold out of the Infant 2x5x2 and Infant 4x6x4 sizes
and
the Bleached Flat Diapers.
Our second price increase will be on our Indian cotton prefolds and
unbleached flat diapers. With a couple of exceptions the price
increase is generally between 13.5% and 20.5% depending upon
size. This price increase will be effective December 15. Back
orders at current prices will not be accepted. As of today we
have sold out of the Infant 4x6x4, Infant 4x8x4 and Regular 4x6x4
sizes
in the bleached fabric.
With regard to future prices we have two scenarios. The first
scenario is that prices have peaked and will eventually decrease to
more reasonable levels. In that case we would expect to lower
prices near the end of 2011 but definitely no sooner than early
fall. The second scenario is that prices continue to
increase. In that case we could be again raising prices as
soon
as March, 2011. We think the first scenario is most likely but
definitely feel the uncertainty.
Cotton
Diaper
Prices
to Increase - Update 11/19/10
Since I last updated this web page world wide cotton prices have
continued to climb. Cotton futures (commodity trading) prices went
up
almost another 30% before leveling off and falling a little in the
past
7 to 10 days. This slight leveling is the first hopeful news I
have seen. However, on the ground in Pakistan and China cotton
thread prices remain higher than ever before. There have been
weeks where we were completely unable to obtain cotton thread to
weave
into fabric. Because we would have to pay as much as 55% more
for
diapers now than we did in August we are unsure if we should
continue
manufacturing at all. Due to the impending price increases,
many
of you have stocked up and we have run out of some sizes of or
Indian
Cotton bleached prefolds. Our inventories are running low on
our
bleached Chinese prefold diapers as well.
Please note that we are not accepting back orders at current
prices. You can get on the waiting lists for additional
diapers
arriving in late December and January but these will be at the new
higher prices.
Our first price increase will be on the Chinese Prefolds and
Bleached
Flat Diapers and will be effective December 5th. Back orders
at
current prices will not be accepted. The price increase on
Chinese Prefolds and Bleached Flat Diapers will be 19-22%. As
of
today we have sold out of the Infant 2x5x2 size and will probably
sell
out of the Flat Diapers and the rest of the Chinese prefolds before
December 5th.
We expect to have further news on the Indian Cotton prefold price
increase before the end of November. This price increase will
be
effective December 15. We do not know yet how much the
increase
will be. On the Bleached Indian Cotton prefolds we are sold
out
of the Infant 4x6x4, Infant 4x8x4 and Regular 4x6x4 sizes. We
have adequate supplies of the of the Preemie, Newborn, Premium and
Toddler sizes. On the Unbleached Indian Cotton Prefolds we are
currently well stocked on all sizes.
Cotton Prices at
Record High - 10-25-10
Cotton Diaper Market Update & Price Impact
Cotton Price Information:
World wide cotton prices have reached historic highs.
According
to the Wall Street Journal the price of cotton is at a 140 year
high. See their article at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704300604575554210569885910.html
.
In
fact cotton prices have increased as much as 56% in the past
three months. Most of the latest price increase is due to poor
supply because of damage to crops from Texas to China to
Pakistan. Cotton is a global commodity and prices reflect
global
supply and demand.
The record high price of cotton has caused our raw material prices
to
increase substantially since our diapers are 100% cotton. The
overall cost of making prefold and flat diapers has already risen
about
18-24% in the past 3 months. That is 18-24% above the
level
where we previously raised prices in August of this year.
There
is some indication that prices may decrease by the end of 2011 but
that
would be dependent upon better crop news for the next growing
season.
Unfortunately this all means that we will be raising our prices by
December 15 of 2010. We are committed to lowering our prices
as
soon as costs go back down. We hope this can occur by the end
of
2011 but unfortunately we cannot guarantee it. More details
regarding the price increase should be available by November 30,
2010. Both of these dates are subject to change.
