Luxury Fibres: Rare Materials for Higher Added Value
A Textiles Intelligence research report on cashmere, mohair, angora and the other rare fibres that carry premium prices
Luxury fibres are among the most expensive textile materials. Their scarcity adds to their appeal, and enhances their status. The market for luxury fibres is highly volatile, and raw material supplies and prices are subject to violent fluctuations as climatic extremes and political upheavals take their toll. But in a world where international competition is increasingly intense in the commodity fibres, luxury fibres provide a means by which textile and apparel producers can achieve higher added value by selling differentiated products at higher prices. This Textiles Intelligence report provides comprehensive data on UK and US import and export trade in luxury fibres and luxury fibre products, and highlights investment opportunities and areas where development potential exists. Textiles Intelligence, formed in 1992 as a spin-off from the Economist Intelligence Unit, supplies business information to the fibre, textile and apparel industry worldwide.
Cashmere, Mohair and Angora: The Fibre Chapters
Each major fibre gets a full chapter built the same way: where the raw material comes from, how it is produced and processed, how it is traded, and what the outlook is. The cashmere chapter — the longest — covers the cashmere market and fibre, world production, cashmere goat breeding in China, fibre characteristics and production, cashmere processing, the trading structure in China, cashmere prices, the impact of changes in Chinese trading arrangements, raw material producers outside China, cashmere processing in the developed world, and the cashmere knitwear industry in the UK and Italy. The mohair chapter covers the development of the mohair industry, sources of raw material, production, animal husbandry, fibre characteristics, processing and trade channels, the industry by country, marketing and promotion, and the market for mohair suiting. Angora rabbit hair, camelhair, the llama family in South America — alpaca, llama, vicuna and guanaco — cashgora, and yak and musk ox complete the fibre coverage.
The Producing and Processing Industries, Country by Country
Chapter 9 profiles Chinese and Hong Kong companies involved in the production of cashmere. Chapter 10 covers the European industry in luxury fibres: a profile of Dawson International plc, profiles of UK merchants and spinners, UK knitwear producers and UK woven cloth manufacturers, production of cashmere and other luxury fibres in Italy with profiles of selected Italian companies, and fibres in other continental European countries. Chapter 11 covers production of cashmere and camelhair in the USA with profiles of US companies involved in luxury fibres, and Chapter 12 profiles companies producing alpaca in Peru, including the Inca Group.
Trade Data and Investment Opportunities
Appendix 1 lists selected companies and organisations involved in luxury fibres across the whole chain: raw materials suppliers in China and Hong Kong for cashmere, camel and angora; raw materials suppliers and processors in Peru for alpaca; merchants and top makers for all raw materials; spinners; knitwear makers, mainly in cashmere but including camelhair; weavers in cashmere, camelhair and mohair; UK breeders; and trade and research organisations. Appendix 2 gives sources of information and a selected bibliography of periodicals, books and other publications. With the report's UK and US import and export trade data, a producer or investor can follow a single fibre — cashmere above all — from goat breeding and raw material prices through processing and knitwear manufacture to the trade figures, and see where the report judges development potential to exist.
Common Questions
Which luxury fibres does the report cover?
Cashmere, mohair, angora rabbit hair, camelhair, the llama family in South America (alpaca, llama, vicuna and guanaco), cashgora, and yak and musk ox — each with production, processing, trading and outlook coverage.
Why do luxury fibres carry higher added value?
They are among the most expensive textile materials and their scarcity adds to their appeal, so producers can sell differentiated products at higher prices instead of competing in commodity fibres — though supplies and prices fluctuate violently with climate and politics.
What trade data and company coverage is included?
Comprehensive data on UK and US import and export trade in luxury fibres and luxury fibre products, plus profiles of cashmere companies in China and Hong Kong, European merchants, spinners and knitwear producers, US companies, and alpaca producers in Peru including the Inca Group.