The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has published International Production Cost Comparison report (IPCC) for 2018. Designed to trace the implications of growing capital intensity in the primary textile industry, the 2018 report adds finishing’ to the historical cost analysis in spinning, draw texturing, weaving, and knitting.

The goal of the report is to allow for a better appreciation of the relative importance of the cost elements and their respective influence on the total costs. In the category Spinning Ring/NE30, for example, the report shows countries with high manufacturing cost also have higher share of labor cost (respectively 33 per cent, 27 per cent, and 31 per cent). The share of power in two of these countries, however, equals the sample average. It reaches 21 per cent in Italy and Korea and 10 per cent in the US, a level comparable to that measured in Egypt.

The report also presents the cost of transforming the former woven fabric into a finished woven fabric (continuous open width). On average, the share of labor and power to total manufacturing costs in this category are similar (13 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively). Strong geographical discrepancies nevertheless exist, especially with respect to labour costs with a spread of 14 cent/m. This reflects the difference in labor costs between Bangladesh (1 cent/m) and Italy (15 cents/m).

The IPCC 2018 further covers the categories of spinning rotor/ne20, texturing, weaving rotor yarn fabric, weaving textured yarn fabric, knitting rotor yarn fabric, knitting textured yarn fabric, finishing - knit - continuous open width (COW), and finishing - knit - discontinuous (JET).