Volumes of used clothing traditionally increase at this time of year because people clear out their wardrobes after Christmas. And the dry weather at the beginning of January, in contrast to last winter, has meant that much less material has been damaged and so volumes are currently quite high.
The slight increase in the supply of clothing, combined with a decreased demand from abroad has seen prices fall slightly from their pre-Christmas high when clothes were bought for Christmas presents. Prices have now fallen from 55-80 for textiles and 180-230 for charity rags in December to 44-70 for material from textiles banks and 150-175 for charity rags.
Andrew Stockwell, general manager for Oxfam Wastesavers, said: “At the moment the supply of mixed rag is in abundance. This is always the case after Christmas when people clear out their wardrobes because of Christmas presents and the sales.”
Wardrobe
Ray Clark, operations manager for Lawrence M Barry, agreed that there was plenty of rag and said: “There is normally an initial rush after Christmas and then it is like someone turning the tap off, but this year it is hanging on for a bit longer. People only have about four foot of wardrobe space and once this is full they have to get rid of their old clothes to make space for the new ones.”
But Mr Stockwell said that as the weather turns more winter-like over the next six weeks he expects to see a shortage as clothing will get damp and become unusable.
While there are mixed reports on the state of the export market, the increased supply of material has meant that stocks of second hand clothing are beginning to build up. Terry Ralph, vice-president of the Textiles Recycling Association (TRA), said: “I have heard that huge stocks of second hand clothing are sitting in West Africa. There has been an oversupply since Christmas as the sale side into West Africa has dropped off considerably. This has a lot to do with the general economic conditions since September 11.”
Mr Ralph explained that the textile industry did not really suffer as a result of the economic downturn after September 11 because September to Christmas is the busy season for textiles recyclers as demand for clothing from Africa is high.
Gerald Cemmell, chairman of Recyclatex, the TRA's bonded recycler scheme for local authorities, confirmed that the textile market has suffered from a slowing down. He said: “The textile market has been slower than it has been in recent years. This is because of a slight knock on effect from September 11 which has caused a slowing down in trading, but there is generally plenty of business.”
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