Price level
Peruvian alpaca top went up a quarter and it holds inside every destination and every grade
Peruvian alpaca top moved from $22.41 to $28.25 a kilo. China took more of the volume and China is the cheap lane, so the mix pushed the other way and the rise held regardless.
Key takeaways
- The rise survives a mix shift pushing against it: China went from around 62% to around 69% of the volume, and China is the cheap lane.
- It holds inside each destination and inside each grade, including the unlabelled lots that are the bulk of the trade: there is no slice where it disappears.
- A collection costed on last year's fibre number is short by roughly a quarter, and by more if the yarn routes through China.
The numbers behind this
| Price of the kilo in the middle | Two years ago | Last year | This year |
|---|---|---|---|
| All shipments | $22.33 | $22.41 | $28.25 |
| Shipped to China | $20.60 | $17.27 | $27.10 |
| Shipped to Italy | $22.26 | $24.04 | $29.40 |
| Baby | $23.05 | $23.95 | $31.64 |
| Royal | $27.42 | $27.29 | $34.84 |
| Huarizo | $17.39 | $8.16 | $17.13 |
| No grade word in the description | $22.31 | $22.34 | $28.18 |
Line up every alpaca top shipment that left Peru through July, and the one in the middle went at $28.25 a kilo.
That same figure was $22.41 in 2025. The level sat almost still and then moved by about a quarter. Any figure like that deserves one question before it goes into a budget, and it is the question that has quietly killed two other findings on this desk in the past week.
The mix objection
Alpaca tops leave Peru for two main destinations, and they pay differently. China buys the large majority of the volume at the cheaper end. Italy buys a smaller share at a higher price. When two destinations pay different prices, the overall figure moves whenever the balance between them shifts, even if neither destination changed what it pays.
A rise in the middle can therefore mean nothing at all. It can just mean more Italian tonnes and fewer Chinese ones. The honest test is to hold the destination still and look again.
Alpaca top got dearer inside every destination, not only in the average
January to July of each year, the mix test held still by destination
The mix moved the wrong way
China's share of volume rose across these years, from around 63% to around 70%.
China is the cheaper of the two. More weight on the cheap side should have pulled the middle down. The middle went up anyway, which means the mix was working against the finding and lost.
That is the strongest version of this test. A finding that survives a mix shift pushing in the opposite direction is not a mix artifact.
Held inside each destination
Inside China, the same figure moved from $17.27 to $27.10, and inside Italy from $24.04 to $29.40.
Both rose. The Chinese lane rose harder than the overall figure did, which is the opposite of what a mix artifact looks like.
So a Chinese spinner comparing its own two most recent seasons sees more than half again. The buyer who felt this hardest is the buyer moving the most volume.
Every alpaca grade rose, from huarizo at the coarse end to royal
The mix test, held still by fibre grade
Held inside each grade
Destination is one way to slice it. Fibre grade is the other, and the finding survives that too.
Reading the grade word out of each shipment description, baby moved up by roughly a third, and royal by a similar order. Huarizo, which sits at the coarse end and trades far cheaper, also rose. The lots whose description carries no grade word at all, which are the bulk of the trade, moved in line with the headline. Every slice points the same way.
The limits
Seven months in, the year is not closed. That matters less here than it would elsewhere, because monthly volume in this trade is unusually flat: no month carries much more than any other, so a partial year does not land inside a different season. It is why the figure is usable in August rather than next January.
The grade split is also a reading of free text. A shipment that describes its fibre precisely gets classified, and one that does not sits in the unlabelled group. That group is large, and the fact that it moved with the rest is reassuring rather than conclusive.
What to do with it
A collection costed on last year's fibre number is short by roughly a quarter, and by a good deal more if the yarn routes through China. That gap does not announce itself. It shows up at the invoice, after the retail price is set and the margin is committed, which is the expensive way to find out.
The cheap way is to re-cost now, while this season's contracts are still open and the number can still change what gets ordered.
Common questions
What does a kilo of Peruvian alpaca top cost this year?
$28.25 for the shipment in the middle, counting through July, against $22.41 in 2025 and close to that three years ago.
Could that rise just be more Italian tonnes and fewer Chinese ones?
No, and the test runs the other way. China's share of volume rose from around 62% to around 69%, and China is the cheaper of the two, so more weight on the cheap side should have pulled the middle down.
Does the rise hold inside each destination?
Yes. Inside China it went from $17.27 to $27.10 and inside Italy from $24.04 to $29.40, comparing 2025 against this year.
Does it hold inside each fibre grade?
Yes. Baby moved up by roughly a third and royal by a similar order. Huarizo, at the coarse end, also rose, and the lots whose description carries no grade word moved in line with the headline.
How reliable is a partial year here?
More than it would be elsewhere. Monthly volume in this trade is unusually flat, so a partial year does not land inside a different season. It is why the figure is usable in August rather than next January.
What does this cost a buyer in practice?
A collection costed on last year's fibre number is short by roughly a quarter, and by more if the yarn routes through China. It shows up at the invoice, after the retail price is set.
Tell us the micron, the grade and the volume. We come back with who in Peru ships it today.
We work only in camelid fibre, on the ground in Peru. You get the mills and the exporters already shipping what you are asking for, at the grade you are asking for.
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