Tirupur Diwali 2026 Knitwear Trade Seen Above $851 Million

By Marcus Bennett

Tirupur’s domestic knitwear trade ahead of Diwali 2026 is estimated at more than Rs. 8,000 crore, or US$851 million, against Rs. 7,300 crore–Rs. 7,500 crore, or US$777 million–US$798 million, last year. Order volumes remained largely unchanged year on year. The higher value largely reflects pricing rather than increased orders.

What separates the higher value from flat order volumes?

Manufacturers attributed the increase to rising input costs and higher garment prices. R Dhamodharan, general secretary of the South India Hosiery Manufacturers Association (SIHMA), described the seasonal timetable.

R Dhamodharan said: "Diwali-related trade inquiries began towards the end of August, while dispatches started in the first week of September." The inquiry phase preceded dispatch, with no factory-level production totals accompanying the estimate.

The figure is an estimate, not a reported full-season revenue result. That distinction matters because the value increase coincided with flat order volumes, concentrating the reported gain in price rather than order growth.

For brands, the estimate provides a price-based measure of the pre-festival market. It does not establish stronger demand, a larger order book or improved factory utilization.

Buyers can use the late-August inquiry start and early-September dispatch start to place orders ahead of the festival buying window. No order-by-order lead times or factory allocations accompany the figures, so buyers cannot infer a standard replenishment cycle for the season.

Why did price increases leave margins thin?

Manufacturers faced higher costs for yarn, dyeing, elastic, packaging materials and cartons. They raised garment prices by around 10–15%, against the 20–25% increase they said was required to offset those costs.

That creates a recovery gap of 5–15 percentage points, calculated from the two industry figures, with weak demand preventing a fuller pass-through.

Brands should separate the quoted garment-price increase from growth in trade value when assessing supplier performance. The stated shortfall in price recovery indicates that manufacturers absorbed part of the additional input costs rather than passing them on in full.

Cost pressure extended beyond yarn to dyeing, elastic and packaging, including cartons, so stable yarn prices alone do not remove the broader input-cost pressure identified by manufacturers.

For sourcing teams, the relevant comparison is the quoted price increase with the stated cost-offset requirement, not with prior-season trade value.

When did buyers place orders, and what did they buy?

R Dhamodharan said: "Diwali-related trade inquiries began towards the end of August, while dispatches started in the first week of September." The sequence places inquiries before dispatches, rather than a higher-volume buying cycle.

The consignments covered five product categories:

• T-shirts
• Track pants
• Children’s wear
• Women’s wear
• Innerwear

Tirupur-made knitwear supplied eight domestic markets:

• Tamil Nadu
• Gujarat
• Delhi
• Maharashtra
• Kolkata
• Telangana
• Andhra Pradesh
• Karnataka

The aggregate estimate does not break down value, volumes or margins by product, destination or manufacturer. Factory-level performance therefore cannot be verified from the reported figures.

What could change the next sourcing cycle?

Recent yarn prices remained stable following the Centre’s relaxation of cotton import duties, according to industry representatives. They have sought an extension of that duty relaxation for another year.

Industry representatives cited opportunities to leverage duty-free trade agreements and improve exports. The extension request is an industry position, not a confirmed policy change, and the figures provide no revised tariff schedule or quantified export benefit.

For brands and sourcing teams, stable yarn prices offer some relief, but the sector’s margin math still depends on recovering the missing price increase while demand remains weak.

An extension would preserve the current input-cost context, but it would not by itself resolve the margin pressure facing domestic suppliers. The next test comes with the requested one-year duty extension, actual Diwali dispatch volumes and whether garment prices can rise toward 20–25% without further weakening demand.