Itochu focuses on developing Peruvian rare cotton OEM products

Itochu Corporation is cultivating Peruvian extra-long cotton PERUVIAN PIMA with high quality and low production volume as a key material for OEM business for fashion brand collection stores. At present, the company has decided to provide fabrics for this year’s autumn and winter series to one or two companies, and will increase supply targets from the 2015 spring and summer series and officially start sales.
Itochu Corporation has signed an exclusive import and sales rights contract for the Japanese market with TEXTILEPIURA, a local manufacturer that operates PERUVIANPIMA, and the raw material department is responsible for the specific business. In addition, in order to achieve the branding effect, Itochu Corporation also cooperated with Fashion No. 1 to produce special hang tags.
In May, Itochu Corporation held its first exhibition meeting, showing product plans based on shirts, casual shirts, and knitted sweaters made of woven fabrics to the heads of fashion brand collection stores present, promoting its light, soft and beautiful characteristics, and suggested that Use directly on styles that come into contact with skin.
In terms of fabrics, Itochu Corporation will entrust manufacturers in Hyogo Nishiriku to produce woven fabrics and manufacturers in Wakayama to produce circular knitted fabrics. Itochu Corporation will also use ITOCHU Fiber Company’s Chinese enterprise Itochu Fiber Trading China to increase the variety of products.
PERUVIANPIMA is cultivated by traditional agricultural methods passed down from ancient times and hand picked at harvest. The output of this kind of cotton is extremely rare, with only about 6,000 tons produced every year, which is 0.02% to 0.03% of global cotton production (about 26 million tons) and 1.5% of super-long-staple cotton production (about 400,000 tons). The fiber length is 38~40 mm, which is the world’s top level and can be spun into high-count yarn. It is rich in natural oils and has a soft and shiny texture after being woven into fabric.
Itochu Corporation’s current import volume of PERUVIAN PIMA is about 100 tons, but the company stated that it will strive to reach 200 tons in the near future, and will consider providing 10% of the 6,000 tons of output to the Japanese market in the future.