Cotton costs only account for about 15% of your fabric prices. A much larger portion of the fabric cost is due to oil prices, which affect the price of fabric at every stage. Oil prices are up, a lot.
Other factors are also creating increases in the cost of quilting fabric;
Shortages in the supply of the type of greige goods used to make quilting fabric due to cotton being diverted to other uses, such as clothing. The remaining goods are in short supply, thus cost more.
Shutdowns and re-purposing of printing mills used in the production of fine quilting fabrics are causing backups and delays in production. Manufacturers are able to produce fewer lines but have the same standing costs.
Less demand for higher quality goods due to consumers' demands for low prices means less high-quality goods will be produced, and those will cost more.
Rising standards of living in countries like Korea, China and Indonesia, where most of your quilting fabric and greige goods are produced, means higher salaries and higher prices.
I don't expect to see fabric prices come down anytime soon, if at all. The best you can expect is that the rate of price increase may slow down.
Last edited by QKO; 03-28-2012 at 09:17 AM.