Are prices reaching their peak?

摘要

The textile recycling industry had a challenging year in 2006. Textile merchants had to pay high prices for second hand clothing, and reports of bogus charity collectors operating around the country were said to have had an impact on volumes of doorstep textiles collections. Textile Recycling Association (TRA) president Terry Ralph told those attending the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) meeting in Brussels at the end of 2006 that the prices UK textile merchants were having to pay were high, but there were indications that they were tailing off in parts of eastern Europe. He said that while some of the price increases could be passed on to customers in sub-saharan Africa, eastern Europe and Asia, the increases had not kept up with the price increases of the original material. "We feel that a ceiling has been reached for many of our foreign customers, and these markets are no longer able to face more prices increases," he said. "It is felt that at some point in the near future, local authorities and charities may have to accept lower prices."