Every menu, every page
145 pages. The two menus first, opened out, then every page in groups. Every table, chart and calculator is listed on All data (212 tables, 22 charts, 15 tools).
Every page, in groups
Hover a link for one line on what the page is. A page with named sections opens them below it.
Start here
- Home What VeriMills does, in four steps, and who it is for. Start here if you have not been sent to a particular page.
- About & contact The full profile: 24 years inside textile supply chains, the mills, the numbers, and why this desk exists at all. Then every way to reach the desk, and what to expect back and how quickly.
Buyers
- Buyers home Pictures first: what we get made, how the two desks work from fibre to shipment, and the door to the right enquiry form.
- Services Every stage we work at, from sourcing the mill to the shipment leaving, one picture and a few lines each, and what each desk does and does not do.
- Products The five product groups and every category in them, pictured: woven garments, knitted garments, home textiles, fibre and yarn, and fabric.
- Woven garments Shirts, trousers, denim, dresses and jackets, cut and sewn from woven cloth. Every category with what it is, the usual constructions and what to tell us for a quote.
- Knitted garments T-shirts, polos, hoodies, activewear, underwear and socks, made from knitted fabric or knitted to shape. Every category with what it is, the usual constructions and what to tell us for a quote.
- Home textiles Bed linen, towels, curtains, table linen, cushions, rugs and hotel linen, made to order from checked mills. Every category with what it is, the usual constructions and what to tell us for a quote.
- Fibre and yarn Cotton, man-made fibre and spun yarn to a written spec from checked mills. Every category with what it is, the usual constructions and what to tell us for a quote.
- Fabric Greige and finished woven fabric, denim, knits and home textile cloth to a spec. Every category with what it is, the usual constructions and what to tell us for a quote.
Raw material sourcing
- The raw material desk Yarn, fibre and fabric quoted from checked mills: what we source, the four checking levels, how it works, and the honest reasoning behind the desk.
- Fibre, yarn and fabric: the numbers Every raw material number on one page, in buying order: cotton and polyester prices, the world balance sheet, yarn benchmarks by origin, the supplier currencies, freight and country costs.
- Fibre prices Cotton and polyester prices, the benchmarks by origin and five years of daily charts. Start here: everything downstream is priced off this.
- Supply and stocks The world balance sheet, how the crop is doing and who is betting on cotton. Read this second: it says whether today’s price is likely to hold.
- Yarn prices Export benchmarks by origin, the three spinning routes tracked separately, and the weekly yarn reference sheet. Third: this is where you check the conversion.
- Trade flows Who sells fibre, yarn and fabric and who buys it, country by country, partner by partner and product by product, with India month by month.
- Currencies The rupee, the taka and the yuan against the dollar, read daily, with crude oil beside them. Context for a quote, never a forecast.
- Freight and landed cost Freight as cents per kilo at four load weights, the South Asian lanes both ways, and the tools that give a live rate. On a low value cargo the sea leg is the number most buyers underestimate.
- Origins and country costs Wages, power and tariffs by origin, each with its own year stated, and the long version of which country sells which cloth. The other half of what turns a mill price into your cost.
- Reading course The whole path for a fibre, yarn or fabric buyer: numbered stops across every page on the site, each with a line saying why it comes there.
- Buying fibre, yarn and fabric, step by step Three numbered buying processes, written the way the purchase actually runs, each step carrying the number, the tool and the plain definition it needs.
- Buying fibre The fibre buying process in twelve steps: the spec, origins, reading the market, one basis, the contract, documents, customs, the tests and the claim window.
- Buying yarn The yarn buying process in thirteen steps: the eight levers of a yarn price, the spec, quotes and trials, one basis, the order, inspection and the record.
- Buying fabric The fabric buying process in thirteen steps: why no fabric price index exists, the nine levers, which country is deep in which cloth, and the cut trial.
- Polyester and the regenerated fibres Polyester staple and the viscose family: the spec words that replace cotton's, where the price is set, the live prices, and what changes across the steps.
- The units and the maths The units a quotation can be denominated in and the arithmetic between them: bales, price conversions, yarn counts, fabric weight and freight per kilo.
- How yarn and polyester are made The spinning systems and what each does to a yarn price, and the polyester chain from crude oil through PX, PTA and MEG to staple fibre and textured yarn.
- When to buy The crop calendar and the shipping calendar do not change with what you buy, so the answer lives once: the tested month of year pattern and the calendar.
- Write the fibre spec from your count programme (fibre step 1) Step 1 of buying fibre: staple, micronaire, strength, grade and trash for cotton, denier, cut length and tenacity for man-made staple, and the blank spec sheet.
- Decide which origins you can buy from (fibre step 2) Step 2 of buying fibre: duty and quota into your country, payment rules and the sailing time you can live with, with the inbound duty table on the duty page.
- Read the market before you ask (fibre step 3) Step 3 of buying fibre: the futures, the world index, the local spot, the world balance, the crop and the positioning, then cover now, wait, or split.
- Ask two to four merchants (fibre step 4) Step 4 of buying fibre: the spec, quantity, shipment spread, term and port, payment, and whether the price is fixed or on-call, sent to two to four merchants.
- Put the offers on one basis (fibre step 5) Step 5 of buying fibre: cents per pound CFR into dollars per kilo at the mill gate, duty, port, inland, finance and regain included, and the tools for the sums.
- Negotiate (fibre step 6) Step 6 of buying fibre: price or basis, the spread, the tolerance, the quality terms, the weight terms and who arbitrates, with the four clauses to insist on.
- Sign the contract and open the letter of credit (fibre step 7) Step 7 of buying fibre: the bank pays the merchant against the documents the contract names, or a transfer that rests on trust, always to a company account.
- Collect the shipping and classing documents (fibre step 8) Step 8 of buying fibre: the bill of lading, invoice, weight list, classing certificates and certificate of origin, and what to check on each before paying.
- Clear customs (fibre step 9) Step 9 of buying fibre: raw cotton is heading 5201, duty free or quota into Bangladesh, Pakistan and China, and man-made staple clears under its own headings.
- Weigh, test moisture, run the fibre tests (fibre step 10) Step 10 of buying fibre: conditioned weight and an HVI test of staple, micronaire, strength and colour against the contract, the week the lot arrives.
- Claim inside the limit, or accept and settle (fibre step 11) Step 11 of buying fibre: every contract carries a window for claims on weight and quality, and the arrival date and the test date are what make or break one.
- Record what the lot did in the mill (fibre step 12) Step 12 of buying fibre: yield, breaks and yarn faults per origin and merchant, one spreadsheet row per lot, so the next spec is tighter than this one.
- The eight things that move a yarn price The eight levers of a yarn price: the count, carded or combed, the spinning system, the fibre grade, waste and noil, twist and ply, the blend, and the package.
- Write the yarn spec (yarn step 1) Step 1 of buying yarn: count as singles and resultant, spinning system, fibre and blend, twist, quality, certification and quantity, with the blank spec sheet.
- Choose origins and terms (yarn step 2) Step 2 of buying yarn: the duty into your country, the payment terms you can carry and the lead time your programme can live with, with the country table.
- Read the market (yarn step 3) Step 3 of buying yarn: cotton this month, the supplier’s currency and what yarn is actually leaving each origin at, in reading order, then cover, wait or split.
- Send the request to three to five mills (yarn step 4) Step 4 of buying yarn: spec, programme or one-off, packing, payment, a sample or not, the target, the same to every mill, and what a bad answer looks like.
- Get quotes, a sample and a test report; run a trial (yarn step 5) Step 5 of buying yarn: the quote, a sample cone from the lot and the mill’s test report, judged against the spec, then a trial on your own machines.
- Put the quotes on one basis (yarn step 6) Step 6 of buying yarn: work the spread per count, then land each quote with freight, duty and the cost of the payment term, with the Leicester worked case.
- Negotiate (yarn step 7) Step 7 of buying yarn: price, validity, tolerance, the delivery schedule and how claims are handled, with four clauses to settle in writing before the price.
- Purchase order with every spec line on it (yarn step 8) Step 8 of buying yarn: the purchase order carries every spec line, the mill answers with a pro forma invoice, then the credit or the transfer against it.
- Pre-shipment inspection, if you want one (yarn step 9) Step 9 of buying yarn: an inspector you pay draws cones before loading, usual on a first order and often dropped once trust is built, arranged by the desk.
- Collect the documents (yarn step 10) Step 10 of buying yarn: bill of lading, invoice and packing list, test report, inspection report and proof of origin, and what to check on each before paying.
- Clear customs (yarn step 11) Step 11 of buying yarn: cotton yarn is heading 5205 or 5206; the rates into Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China are on the duty page, checked with an agent.
- Check the delivery against the contract (yarn step 12) Step 12 of buying yarn: conditioned weight, count, twist, strength and evenness against the contract and the mill’s report, the week the lot arrives.
- Pay the balance; record the mill’s performance (yarn step 13) Step 13 of buying yarn: pay the balance against the delivery you tested, then one row per lot on what was ordered, received, tested and delivered on time.
- The nine things that move a fabric price The nine levers of a fabric price: the count, ends and picks, width, the weave, the blend, the shade, run length, greige against finished, and freight.
- Write the cloth spec (fabric step 1) Step 1 of buying fabric: construction, weight, width, composition, finish, colours, the tests, quantity per colour and dates, with the blank spec sheet.
- Decide where to ask (fabric step 2) Step 2 of buying fabric: which country is deep in which cloth, and which origin keeps the duty preference for the garment’s destination, with film and table.
- Read the market (fabric step 3) Step 3 of buying fabric: the yarn inside the cloth, the cotton under the yarn and the freight on your lane, in reading order, then what the data can decide.
- Ask three to five mills (fabric step 4) Step 4 of buying fabric: spec, colours, lab dips, packing, term, payment and dates, the same to every mill through the quote form, and what to refuse.
- Get quotes, hangers, lab dips and a bulk sample (fabric step 5) Step 5 of buying fabric: a quote with its validity, a hanger of the cloth, lab dips for each shade and a bulk sample tested at a laboratory against the spec.
- Put the quotes on one basis (fabric step 6) Step 6 of buying fabric: take out the yarn content, which is calculable to the gram, and land the rest by weight, with the worked case of poplin to Jeddah.
- Negotiate (fabric step 7) Step 7 of buying fabric: price, the minimum per colour, tolerances, the shade band, inspection and claims, with the four clauses to settle in writing first.
- Purchase order with the sealed sample attached (fabric step 8) Step 8 of buying fabric: the purchase order with the construction, tolerances, shade band and dates, the sealed sample attached, then the pro forma and credit.
- Production, with in-line and final inspection (fabric step 9) Step 9 of buying fabric: cloth inspected on the four point system, defects scoring points the contract caps, by an inspector you pay who reports to you.
- Collect the documents (fabric step 10) Step 10 of buying fabric: the bill of lading, invoice and packing list, the test and inspection reports on the bulk and the proof of origin, and what to check.
- Clear customs (fabric step 11) Step 11 of buying fabric: woven cotton is 5208 and 5209, synthetic filament cloth 5407, knitted cloth 6006, and the inbound rates are on the duty page.
- Check metres, width, weight and shade; cut a trial (fabric step 12) Step 12 of buying fabric: metres, width and weight roll by roll, the shade against the band and the sealed sample, a cutting tested, then a cut trial.
- Record the mill’s performance for next season (fabric step 13) Step 13 of buying fabric: one row per order and mill on shade, metres, width, tests, claims and dates, kept season to season, so you negotiate on evidence.
- Ask for a quote Five fields are enough to start. No fee, no obligation, and a person reads every request. With a not-ready-yet path for buyers who want to be told when something matches.
- Cotton yarn prices Indicative cotton yarn levels by count and origin, collected from mills and traders. Until the first sheet is collected, the published figures that bear on a yarn price, with what each one is and is not.
- Yarn by count, blend and spinning system Carded, combed, compact and open end yarn and its blends, what an enquiry needs to say, and what a quote has to state before two mills compare.
- Greige fabric, and what to specify Cloth as it leaves the loom: how a construction is written and read, which width is which, and what a woven or knitted greige enquiry needs to say.
Brand sourcing
- The garment office Garments made to order from checked factories: the four steps, who is paid what at each milestone, the inspection rule, and the seven questions to ask any agent. Home textiles have their own desk, at their own address.
- Garment market numbers Every garment market number on one page: forty product lines with their supplier countries, whether Europe and the US are ordering, who supplies Saudi Arabia, freight per kilo and six origin countries compared.
14 sections
- What is being made, and where
- What retailers say
- EU27 imports
- The United Kingdom
- United States
- The rest of the world, a year at a time
- Who trades clothing with whom
- Knitted and woven, product by product
- India, month by month
- Who supplies Saudi Arabia
- Container freight
- Freight, South Asian lanes both ways
- Country costs
- The whole path, for a brand
- Products and prices Forty garment lines in twelve groups, each opening to the supplier countries and the price per piece. Start here, and read the caveat first.
- Demand by market What European retailers say they will order, EU27 and UK imports by supplier, who supplies US clothing, and who supplies Saudi Arabia.
- Trade flows The rest of the world a year at a time: clothing trade by country, the largest partners of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, knitted and woven product by product, and India month by month.
- Freight and landed cost Freight as cents per kilo at four load weights, the South Asian lanes both ways, and the tools that give a live rate. Apparel fills a box long before it reaches the weight limit.
- Origins and country costs Wages, power, logistics and tariffs for seven sourcing countries side by side, each with its year. The panel behind any "should we move the order" question.
- Reading course The whole path for a brand or retailer: numbered stops across every page on the site, each with a line saying why it comes there.
- Getting garments made, step by step The fourteen steps of a garment order, from design to delivered, each carrying the number, the tool and the plain definition it needs, and an honest line on the numbers only a factory can give.
18 sections
- Read this first
- 1. The product and the price
- 2. The tech pack
- 3. Fabric and trims
- 4. Quantities and the minimum
- 5. The country
- 6. Factories, one brief, quotes
- 7. Cost to your door
- 8. Sampling
- 9. The order in writing
- 10. The deposit, safely
- 11. Production and the calendar
- 12. Watch it run
- 13. Final inspection
- 14. Balance, ship, clear, receive
- What we cannot tell you
- Garment trade terms
- The tools
- 1. Decide the product and the price you can pay One product, one market, and the most you can pay the factory, worked backwards from your selling price.
- 2. Write the tech pack The one document a factory can quote from: drawing, measurements with tolerances, fabric, trims, stitching, labels, packing.
- 3. Decide the fabric and trims Name the cloth and trims, or write down exactly what the factory proposes, because fabric is half the price.
- 4. Fix quantities and check them against the minimum Pieces per style, colour and size; the factory’s minimum is set by the fabric mill, not the sewing line.
- 5. Choose the country Duty and whether you qualify for a lower rate, freight, time, wages, and the rules of the market you sell into.
- 6. Find and check the factories, and get quotes on one basis Real address, your product weekly, capacity, certificates that check out; then the same tech pack, the same quantity and the same term to every factory, so the quotes compare.
- 7. Cost each quote to your warehouse door Factory price plus freight, duty, border fees, insurance and inland delivery. Cheapest at the port is often not cheapest landed.
- 8. Sample until you can sign one Pay the sample charge, expect two or three rounds, then sign a sealed sample and size set. Bulk is judged against it.
- 9. Place the order with everything in writing Price, quantities by style, colour and size, dates, payment, inspection level, packing, labels, and what happens on a fail.
- 10. Pay the deposit the safe way Against the pro forma, to the factory’s company account, bank transfer or letter of credit, deposit only.
- 11. Production runs from the day the fabric is booked The date counts from fabric booking, not from your order, and stretches over Chinese New Year, Ramadan, the Eids and the shipping peak.
- 12. Watch it while it runs Approve the pre-production sample; deal with problems before the whole order is sewn.
- 13. Final inspection by someone who works for you An independent inspector checks the goods against the sealed sample and the agreed level before they leave.
- 14. Pay the balance, ship, clear, receive Balance against the documents, clear customs with the right code and proof of origin, count and check on arrival, claim inside the window.
- Garment trade terms FOB, CMT, CM, LDP and DDP, with what each includes and who carries which risk.
- The tools The costing templates, tables and downloads, grouped by what you are trying to do.
- Minimum order quantity, explained Why the minimum is usually the fabric mill’s dye lot and not the sewing line, which of the three you are hitting, and seven ways a small brand gets it down.
- Fabric consumption per garment How much cloth a garment takes, how a fabric’s weight follows from its construction, what moves the figure and why the factory’s number differs from yours.
- Tell us what you want made The garment enquiry: product, quantity and market, answered honestly before you spend anything. With a not-ready-yet path for brands that want to be on the list.
Home textiles
- The home textile desk Home textiles made to order from checked mills: the four things that are not true of a garment order, who the desk is for, how an order runs, and what we charge, which is nothing until a mill has shipped.
- Home textile market numbers Thirty nine home textile lines with their supplier countries, the twelve countries that actually supply America, who buys and sells home textiles worldwide, what every market charges in duty, and the freight and country costs that turn a mill price into your cost.
- Products and prices Every home textile line in eight groups, each opening to the countries that ship it and the price per piece or per square metre. Start here, and read the caveat first.
- Markets and duty The twelve countries that supply America, three years side by side, and the duty the United States, Europe and Britain each charge, read from the schedules.
- Trade flows The rest of the world a year at a time: home textile trade by country, the largest partners of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, product by product, and India month by month.
- Freight and landed cost Freight as cents per kilo at the heavier load weights a dense cargo reaches, the South Asian lanes both ways, and the tools that give a live rate.
- Origins and country costs Wages, power, logistics and tariffs for seven sourcing countries side by side, each with its year. The panel behind any question about moving an order to another country.
- Buying home textiles, step by step The sixteen steps of a home textiles order, from the retail price backwards to the delivered carton, with the bed sizes, the duty split, the tests and the retail pack that a garment process does not cover.
20 sections
- Read this first
- 1. The product and the price
- 2. The specification
- 3. Sizes, and the trap in them
- 4. The cloth and the filling
- 5. Quantities and the minimum
- 6. The country
- 7. Mills, one brief, quotes
- 8. Cost to your door
- 9. Sampling and lab dips
- 10. Tests and the rules you must meet
- 11. The retail pack
- 12. The order in writing
- 13. The deposit, safely
- 14. Production and the calendar
- 15. Inspection before it leaves
- 16. Balance, ship, clear, receive
- What we cannot tell you
- Home textile trade terms
- The tools
- 1. The product and the price Work backwards from what your customer pays to the most the mill can cost you, per piece and per set.
- 2. The specification Thread count, grams per square metre, pile and construction, written so that two mills quote the same thing.
- 3. Sizes, and the trap in them A king in America, Britain and Europe are three different beds. The size list is most of the order.
- 4. The cloth and the filling Greige cloth is booked before the design is finished, and a filling is bought and priced separately from the shell.
- 5. Quantities and the minimum The minimum is set by the loom and the dye lot, not by the sewing line, and it is quoted per colour.
- 6. The country Which origin is genuinely deep in your product, and what each one pays in duty into the market you sell in.
- 7. Mills, one brief, quotes Check what the mill actually owns, then send every one of them the identical brief so the quotes can be compared.
- 8. Cost to your door The mill price is not the cost. Duty, freight and the base each market charges duty on finish the sum.
- 9. Sampling and lab dips Lab dips, a strike off for a print, then a sealed sample and a wash test that bulk is judged against.
- 10. Tests and the rules you must meet Shrinkage, fastness and the labelling law of the country you sell into. The last one stops shipments.
- 11. The retail pack Home textiles sell unopened off a shelf, so the pack is designed, costed, sampled and approved like the product.
- 12. The order in writing The purchase order and the pro forma invoice, with the size grid, the sealed sample reference and the pack specification attached.
- 13. The deposit, safely Against the pro forma, to the company account named on it, by transfer or letter of credit. Never anywhere else.
- 14. Production and the calendar The clock starts at yarn and greige booking, not at artwork approval, and the year has stops in it.
- 15. Inspection before it leaves An independent inspector you pay, checking size, weight, shade and the retail pack against the sealed sample.
- 16. Balance, ship, clear, receive Documents, customs clearance, checking on arrival, and how short the claim window really is.
- The tools The costing templates, duty tables and downloads, grouped by what you are trying to do.
- Tell us what you want made in home textiles The home textile enquiry: the product, the sizes and the quantity per colour, answered honestly before you spend anything. With a not-ready-yet path for buyers who want to be on the list.
Suppliers
- Register your mill or factory Spinning, weaving and knitting mills, cut and sew factories and trims makers: one form, the four checking levels explained, no listing fee.
- Raw material suppliers For spinning, weaving and knitting mills: what the form asks in mill units, how buyers reach you, and how far the checking goes.
- Garment suppliers For cut and sew factories and trims makers: how milestone paid, third party inspected orders run, and what the form asks in pieces and lines.
Advisory
- Advisory Where an outside pair of hands is worth having on procurement, and the three things worth knowing before you call.
- Request a call Thirty minutes, no charge, and an honest answer on whether the work is worth doing at all.
Reference
- Market Data home The home of the Market Data half: the three numbers desks, the weekly summary, the guides and the reference shelf, pictured.
- All data: every table, chart, tool and download One list of everything in the Market Data half that carries a number: every table and chart by page, every calculator, every download and every film.
- Reference home The six reference pages on one page: duty, calculators, worked cases, sources, the calendar and the glossary, with when to open each.
- Import duty What each market charges on cotton, yarn, fabric and garments, read line by line from the schedules; what Bangladesh, Pakistan and China charge on the way in; and the rules of origin that decide whether a zero rate is yours.
- Calculators and data files Every dataset we are permitted to redistribute, as a formatted spreadsheet with an explanation sheet inside it, shelved by what you buy rather than by what kind of file it is. And the ones we may not hand on, with the licence reason for each.
- Six worked cases, from nothing to warehouse door Tees to Dallas, sheet sets to California, yarn to Leicester, poplin to Jeddah, hoodies to Rotterdam and towels to Dubai: every line of the landed cost, with the placeholders marked so you can put your own figures in.
- Where our numbers come from Every source we read, what it costs and the licence that governs it; whether each of our own figures is fresh; and what publishes next.
18 sections
- Is every figure fresh
- What publishes next
- The wires
- How each number is built
- Who publishes each number
- Cotton futures and world indices
- Pakistan cotton
- India cotton
- World cotton statistics
- Trade statistics
- Man-made fibre and feedstock
- Energy and currency
- Freight and logistics
- Industry news
- Learning and reference
- Country and costing indicators
- Checking a supplier or a certificate
- Labelling and import rules
- When to buy: the calendar The one seasonal price pattern that survives an honest test, the recurring dates that move factories and freight, and the Gulf retail year.
2 sections
- The glossary The trade words used across this site, each defined in one plain sentence, grouped by where a buyer meets them.
The weekly summary, and the files
- The weekly summary The whole week on one page, free by email every Monday, and downloadable as plain text. This is the one weekly summary; the file below is the same report in another format.
- The same summary, as a plain text file txt The week’s figures as a plain text file, readable in anything, with no styling and no script.
Company and legal
- Privacy What is collected, what is not, and who else sees it. Short, because there is not much of it.
- Terms What this site is and is not, including the standing point that nothing published here is an offer or advice.
- Feedback Ask for information the site does not have yet, suggest an improvement, or report something that is wrong or not working.
- Site map Every page and every section of the site in one list, each with a line saying what it is.
The version search engines read is at /sitemap-index.xml; /robots.txt points at it. The acknowledgement pages, the offline page and the not-found page ask not to be indexed and are not listed.