Business of Fashion Magazine writes a long and comprehensive article on how China’s power shortages are going to impact fashion manufacturing through at least mid-2022.

Whether it’s sourcing raw materials or manufacturing and selling products, by some estimates, about 60% of the world’s fashion industry passes through China in some form. So when they China starts facing scheduled and extended power outages, the fashion industry will feel the pinch.

These power shortages are impacting more than half the country. Not only have raw material prices (both in China and globally) soared since the onset of the pandemic, but sourcing materials such as cotton from China’s western Xinjiang region have become increasingly fraught for global brands, as countries such as the US have banned them due to allegations of forced labour.

The blackouts are largely due to a nationwide push to diversify China’s economy away from coal. Combined with flooding in major mining regions, and to a lesser extent a trade conflict with Australia, China’s thermal coal prices have risen to record highs, over 200 percent this year. And, a government mandate prevented power companies from passing increased cost on to customers, leading to the rolling blackouts.

Compounding everything else that’s happening in the world, the fashion industry needs to learn to adapt, quickly, to keep their industry afloat for the time being.

Read the article HERE