(Yicai) July 19 -- The price of padded winter jackets in China could be set to increase as a shortage of duck down has already pushed up the price of other products made from feathers, such as badminton shuttlecocks, industry insiders told Yicai.

The price of white goose feathers, which account for 90 percent of down jacket fillers, surged 35 percent this month from January to CNY1,220 (USD168) per kilogram and is now at a record high, according to the China Down website.

Many sports equipment makers, such as Japan’s Yonex and China’s Double Happiness, have already raised the price of shuttlecocks by between 40 percent and 60 percent.

The shortage has to do with fewer ducks and geese being available on the market, Shandong Zhongxin Food Technology told Yicai. Poultry breeders, who had increased their stock in the aftermath of outbreaks of African swine fever in 2019 when pork was in short supply and demand for chicken and duck meat surged, are now reducing the size of their herds as the supply of pork recovers and prices slide.

The number of ducks available for sale in China dropped to 4.2 billion last year from 4.8 billion, according to the China Animal Agriculture Association. And the number of geese slumped to 520 million from 630 million.

There has also been an explosion in outdoor winter sports activities, and down jackets are in high demand, Zhongxin Food said.

Henan Huaying Agricultural Development sold 7,112 tons of duck down in 2023 to big down jacket makers such as Bosideng and Lining, according to its latest earnings report. This led to a 22.9 percent jump in revenue from the year before to CNY2.1 billion (USD301.3 million), contributing 59 percent of its total revenue.

New national criteria have put higher requirements on the quality of puffer jackets’ fillers and resulted in greater demand for down, said Zhang Qiong, general manager at Changle Tianhe Feedstuff, a subsidiary under Shandong-based Weifang Tianhe Feedstuff. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has also led to a shortage of international supplies of down, thus hiking prices.

Due to a shortage of raw materials, the price of down jackets has been on the rise in the past two years, with the average increase ranging from 20 to 30 percent, Zhang added.

Editor: Kim Taylor