China: cashmere
From the end of June, the price of cashmere increased around 10%, due to the decrease in production, especially among the finer types. In addition, many herders preferred to kill their sheep and sell the meat at the end of last year, causing further lack of raw materials during this season.
Some dealers also decided to collect the limited materials available to support the high prices. Most suppliers can only offer in short-term and small quantities.
Mongolia: cashmere
The Mongolian market was very quiet during July and August, both because European companies were mostly on holiday but also because greasy cashmere is over in every region. On 19 July, the Mongolian government placed 15% taxes (on greasy price) on exports of scoured cashmere, in an attempt to reduce massive purchases from Chinese buyers in the last few years.
Iran: cashmere
Prices of raw materials have increased in proportion to the decline of the local currency. Already at the beginning of July there were no stocks left, as they had mainly been exported to China directly or through Afghanistan.
China: silk
The price of raw silk kept going down over the last two months, but the price of new cocoons from Guangxi province has still been 20% higher than last July. At the same time, the production of new cocoons from Sichuan province increased 15% compared to last year. The price of kibiso, which is mainly used for silk tops, came down a little but still remained limited on good quality.
Meanwhile, Tussah raw materials faced a little decrease in price in July and August. The top makers are willing to sell the stock at the moment in order to buy new good materials.
