Clothes: The villain in the movie when it comes to inflation

The prices of clothing and footwear enter an upward spiral e the distortion is increasing compared to other goods and consumption, also subject to inflationary inertia. Much more than the evolution of the salaries.

In the latest consumer price index (CPI) released Wednesday by INDEC, clothing and footwear showed an increase 9.9% in August, the highest of all the items making up the official indicator.

However, the increase is not limited to last month – nor is it strictly a product of the change of season – since then in one year the increase reached 109%, which is more than doubled.

Taking into account the change in the prices of blouses, shirts, trousers, shoes and more, in UKR, in one year the increase was on average 111.7%. Within this percentage, apparel and materials have increased by 116.1% over the past year (through August) and the footwear, for their part, did so in 98.2%according to official data.

DoWhy have prices accelerated in this way despite the fact that the textile sector should be “protected” from the current economic policy against imports?

Sources linked to the sector justify the increases in dollar rise in the last year (which makes imported raw materials more expensive) and also increase in cotton fiber during the same period.

Between August 2021 and August of this year, the international price per kilo of cotton went from $ 1.79 to $ 2.27. “And the rest of the costs have also increased in a similar proportion,” they point out.

But there are also other situations that influence excessive rises in values, such as interest rates.

Although for the Now 12 plans the Government has provided for increasing interest rates for credit card purchases, depending on the number of installments used (for example, for 3 installments, 7.06%; for 6 installments, 13.3% and in 12 installments 18.74%), many merchants prefer to charge this interest in the final price and offer customers the attractive odds “without interest“.

Secondly, the restrictions that exist on imports allows local producers further increase prices in the absence of competition. However, according to data from the Chamber of Clothing, dollar imports of clothing for the period January-July 2022 increased by 50.3% compared to the same period in 2021.

The controversy on the increase in the price of clothing has also been moved to social media, which intensifies every time inflation data is known.

The allusions to disproportionate increases in voice came from users – who complain that “we have to start mending and wearing old clothes, because the very high prices have no explanation “-, even insults to businessmen linked to domestic industry, such as for example Teddy KaragozianoCEO of TN & PLATEX

Faced with questions from tweeters about excessive boosts, Karagozian replied: “We make yarn. That’s 2% of the clothing price. 20% or more are rentals. We don’t make clothes. But tired of being blamed for it, we started doing and we will be the largest company in the industry. Call me or blame me in two years, “she tweeted.

Work and “infernal question”

Silvana Dallago, owner of the clothing company Sonder of Rosario, declared in statements on Cadena 3 radio that “the lack of imported inputs and labor explain the increase in clothes.

“The biggest increases relate to raw materials and suppliers are having difficulty sourcing imported supplies such as polyester or lycra. Therefore, when they get them, they increase their price, “Dal Lago said, warning that, in this way,”they do a lot of what they have because they don’t know when they will have those supplies again “. “It’s rude that we have steadily increased,” she added.

Another problem is the workforce, according to the Rosario entrepreneur: “There are very few Peruvians, Bolivians and Paraguayans working in Argentina” and this was one of the causes that hit the sector and worsened after the pandemic. “Because it is no longer convenient for them to come to workArgentina because it is not enough for them to support their families in their country, ”she said.

In this context, according to Lago, «a good thing that is happening is that what we produce, we sell everything we produce “ and according to the analysis it is “Thanks to the non-importation of finished garments and that’s why we have a hell of a demand and we sell everything, ”he stressed.

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