Increase in waste cotton prices hit openend spinning mills

The price of waste cotton that shot up in October has increased again now, hitting the openend spinning mills in Tamil Nadu that use cotton waste from the textile mills as the raw material.

M. Jayapal, president of the Recycle Textile Federation, said cotton price in September 2025 was ₹56,000 a candy, it was ₹51,000 in November 2025 and waste cotton is currently traded at ₹56,000 per candy.

The price of comber waste was ₹102 a kg last September, went up to ₹115 a kg in November 2025 and is currently ₹123 to ₹125 a kg. “This continuous escalation, despite comparatively moderate cotton prices, has placed severe financial strain on openend mills, making it increasingly difficult to sustain operations,” he said.

The price of yarn produced in the openend mills was ₹165 a kg for 20s warp and ₹148-150 a kg for weft yarn last October. At present, despite a 23 per kg increase in waste cotton prices, the openend mills are compelled to sell warp yarn at less than ₹ 165 and weft yarn at less than ₹155 a kg, which is lower than the production cost.

Due to insufficient orders for 30s count yarn during the last four months, many mills have shifted to hosiery yarn. The recent announcement by master weavers in the weaving clusters of a 50% production stoppage, citing yarn price increases, has aggravated the situation, he said.

The Central and State governments should monitor spinning mills to sell cotton waste through a transparent tender system, similar to the system followed by the Cotton Corporation of India for cotton sales, Mr. Jayapal said.

According to the Openend Spinning Mills Association president G. Arulmozhi, over 250 openend spinning mills in Tamil Nadu produce grey cotton yarn from waste cotton and supply the yarn to powerlooms in Palladam, Somanur, Avinashi, Mangalam, and Erode where they are woven into grey fabric and sold in the northern States.

The practice of textile mills in Tamil Nadu to levy ₹1 a kg packing charges on waste cotton is unique in India. The mills should waste cotton without any packaging charges, he said.