Demand (and costs) for Yarns Escalating

There are times when you just sit back in your highback and let out a deep sigh of ambivalance. I just had one of those moments after getting off the phone with a yarn order taker (they used to be called salesmen but they really don't sell anymore). I was informed that the supply side is getting tight AND cotton fiber prices are escalating, thus the yarn I bought for $1.52/lb last month was now $1.70/lb. AND I may have to wait an extra week or two for delivery. I can live with this news when the US market is alive and domwstic manufacturing is sopping up all the yarn the spinners can spin, but this is the opposite scenario. Here, the dollar has weakened to the point where USA made yarn is a bargain. Business last year was so bad that two major spinners went out of business, which, at the time, had almost no impact on supply. Now, demand for USA made yarns is increasing for companies that produce in the Carribean, Central and South America. This includes both domestically owned businesses with textile factories as well as Asian and European operations with factories in this hemisphere. Translation, domestic textile producers must pay more for, and wait longer for, yarns made here because the bulk of them are being bought up by huge conglomerates and being shipped out of this country. As demand increases the loss of capacity by the two major mills further constricts availability and leads to undercapacity which, in turn will cause inflationary pricing and delivery delays mounting into weeks and possibly months. In 1965 95% of all apparel sold in the USA was USA produced. In 1985 it was down to 70%. In 1995 USA production accounted for only 50% of all apparel sold in the USA. Today? Less than 5%. Yes, LESS THAN 5%. Now, in this mother of all recessions, we have to raise prices for unleaded snaps and cotton! I think I'll recline in my highback and let out another ambivalant sigh.