Last May I wrote about the shortages in cotton availability in this post. The latest issue of YMN addresses the issue of rising costs for both wool and cotton. The bad news is that we can all expect to pay more for our yarn fixes than in the past. Some of the reasons for the increases in price discussed in Yarn Market News include the falling value of the U.S. dollar in the world market. Drought conditions have occurred in many places throughout the world where cotton is produced. Prices peaked for cotton in March of 2011. Wool reached a 10 year high in June 2011 and has also been impacted by drought conditions in New Zealand and Australia. South Africa suffered a Chinese wool ban due to disease in their sheep populations. The Chinese dominate in the manufacture of textiles and are making it hard for other countries to compete with their low labour costs. Interestingly, a knitting friend observed that even acrylics have recently increased in price as a result of the fiber shortages in other categories.
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