Cotton Prices Soar to Civil War-Era Premiums

Last week, Cotton Incorporated SVP of global marketing supply chain, Mark Messura, presented a cotton market analysis at the Union League Club, sponsored by the American Apparel and Footwear Association's Intimate Apparel Council.

According to WWD's report, there's been a sharp decline of worldwide cotton production due to China's shifted focus on corn and soy crops, and, here in the US, the rash of natural disasters in Texas, our primary cotton producer. As a result, Messura predicts prices to close within the $1.50 to $1.80-per-pound range for the next few months—this after hitting a "record peak" of $2.44 on March 8.