While so many of the shortages and resulting price hikes we’re seeing across a wide swath of consumer products is the result of pandemic-influenced factors, what’s happening with the decade-high price of cotton has a lot more to do with climate change and politics. This month the price of a pound of cotton reached $1.16 — at least — which is the highest it’s been for ten years. Blame it on drought conditions in the U.S. and India — two of the three biggest cotton suppliers in the world — that have reduced the size of the crop. China, the other big cotton grower, is facing its own problems with a U.S. ban on imports due to the way the country is treating its minorities. Put it all together and it’s a big issue for cotton users, namely apparel and home textiles makers, retailers and, most of all, consumers. The Smart money is on figuring out how to navigate through all of this. The Stupid money is imaging this goes away anytime soon.
More on the Cotton craze – including why the cotton situation was much, much worse ten years ago — in my new Forbes.com post: https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2021/10/12/what-the-spike-in-cotton-prices-to-a-10-year-high-means/?sh=555d35d1d549
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