Apparel Industry Mobilizes Against Cotton Rally

Cotton has soared more than 70% this year and hit a record price last month, and that goes for synthetics, too: Rising oil prices and demand have boosted the cost of polyester around 25%. Reached this point, manufacturers have warned for months that a global cotton shortage, exacerbated by speculation buying, would cause prices to skyrocket and result in retail price rises of up to 15 percent by late 2010 or early 2011. According to experts, main reasons behind cotton going sky-high are rising demand from China, India and other developing countries, along with supply shortages because crops were