The cost escalation is cascading across the textile value chain, from spinning mills and weavers to fabric processors in Ahmedabad.
| Photo Credit:
GOVARTHAN M/The Hindu
The waste cotton price hike has severely impacted Open End Spinning Mills’ production of grey cotton yarn. There are over 250 Open End (OE) spinning mills in Tamil Nadu supplying yarn to powerlooms in the Palladam, Somanur, Avinashi, Mangalam, and Erode regions, where the yarn is woven into grey fabric and sold in the northern states.
G. Arulmozhi, President, Open End Spinning Mills Association, said that two months ago, spinning mills sold comber waste cotton at ₹105 per kg. However, they have increased the price to ₹128 per kg. This increase has affected OE mills and powerloom weavers, he said.
Despite cotton prices dropping to ₹1600/candy last week, spinning mills’ decision to hike waste cotton prices has impacted all players in the textile value chain, he added.
Spinning mills use cotton as their main raw material. During that process, different types of cotton waste are generated, and if they use 100 per cent cotton, 65 per cent of the yarn is realised, with 35 per cent cotton waste generated in combed yarn production. This 35 per cent waste is being used by open-end spinning mills. This OE yarn is then sent to power loom cloth manufacturers to produce various grey fabrics, which are then sent to Ahmedabad for dying and printing.
A Sureshkumar, Keerthana Textiles Mills, Palladam, said the mills are forced to sell yarn to customers at a 10-15 per cent increase, mainly in Gujarat. The customers making fabrics pass on the increase to their customers, he said.
Published on February 13, 2026
