Jeans to cost more; denim prices hiked

Denim products are likely to get costlier as manufacturers in country's largest denim producing state of Gujarat have hiked the fabric prices by Rs 5-6 per metre amid soaring cotton and polyester prices, industry sources said on Monday.

"We have increased the denim prices by Rs 5 per metre over the last one month or so. It is now available at Rs 92 per metre against Rs 87 a month ago," said managing director Aarvee Denims Ashish V Shah.

Aarvee Denim has manufacturing capacity of 60 million metres of denim per annum, out of which around 20 to 25 per cent is exported. Exports, however, are dependent on currency fluctuation, Shah said.

Gujarat manufactures over 250 to 300 million metres of denim per annum, making it the largest producing state in India with leading textile houses like Arvind Mills, Aarvee Denims, Aashima, Nandan Exim, Jindal Worldwide and few others, locating their plants here, industry sources said.

"So far we have increased the per metre denim price by Rs 5 to 6 and with cotton and polyester prices ruling firm we expect another 3 to 4 per cent hike in prices to come into effect by March," Nandan Exim CEO Deepak Chiripal said.

According to Chiripal, the cotton prices have gone up by 30 per cent in the last few months, and cost of polyester has also gone up considerably.

Nandan Exim has manufacturing capacity of 40 million metres per annum and makes about 200 varieties of denim, a company official said.

The outlook for denim is positive as the fabric is likely to remain the flavour amongst consumers, Chiripal said.

"If the cotton prices do not soften then its going to be a challenging year ahead for denim," said managing director Jindal Worldwide Amit Aggarwal.

The company manufactures around 20 million metres of denim per annum of which around 15 per cent is exported, he added.