Raw silk prices jumped 65% in one year; Indian weavers in lurch

According to data of Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro, Charkha raw silk is priced at ₹4,603.93 per kg in current quarter April-June 2022. The raw material was sold at ₹2,775.12 per kg in April-June 2021 quarter. Therefore, Charkha raw silk jumped 65.87 per cent in last one year.

An analysis revealed that raw silk prices had touched as high as ₹4,930.86 per kg in January-March 2022 quarter. It means the prices eased down by 6.63 per cent in current quarter. The prices had recorded increase of 16.59 per cent in July-September 2021, 21.95 per cent in October-December 2021 and 24.97 per cent in January-March 2022 quarter over previous quarter.

As per Texpro, the prices have touched a low level of ₹2,070 per kg in July-September 2020 quarter when the prices had crashed 63.7 per cent due to lockdowns and restrictions of COVID-19. According to trade sources, Indian silk production reduced during 2020-21 due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic. The total raw silk production in the country during 2020-21 was 33,770 MT, which was 13.41 per cent lower than the production achieved during the previous year 2019-20. The production had also missed target set by the government in the year under review when India could achieve around 86.5 per cent of the target for the year 2020-21. Raw silk production was 26,587 MT in the previous fiscal till December 2021 against target of 39,500 MT set for the entire year.

Raw silk demand had seen steep rise after the pandemic as economic activities jumped suddenly. The steep rise left weavers in the lurch. According to trade sources, large number of weavers who produce silk sarees and other items have stopped production as they are unable to pass on the increased cost of production. They could not come out from the impact of production disruptions due to COVID-19 restrictions.

India’s export earnings from silk items also reduced in 2020-21 to $198 million from $247 million in previous year 2019-20. The export stood at $211 million in previous fiscal till December 2021.

On the other hand, India imported 1,377 MT raw silk till December 2021 in financial year ending March 31, 2022. Raw silk import was 1,804 MT in 2020-21 and 3,315 MT in 2019-20.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)