India’s hair industry is in a tangle

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Last year 120 bags of undeclared hair, worth around $243,000 and bound for China, were seized by Indian officials at the border with Myanmar

Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThat adds up to a lot of hair. In 2019 the temple auctioned off a staggering 157 tonnes of the stuff, earning $1.6m. And Tirumala is only one of many temples in India where tonsuring is part of the ritual. Much of this fibrous bounty ends up in West Bengal, an eastern state where the hair industry is concentrated.

The global market for wigs and extensions was worth $5.8bn in 2021 and is growing at a fast clip, according to Arizton, a market-research outfit. Real human strands, as opposed to synthetic ones, are woven into nearly a third of the world’s hairpieces. Last year$770m-worth of human hair, twice as much as in 2020. Spared the brunt of harsh chemicals—most Indians cannot afford hair products—it is prized for its quality.

The trade’s low input costs and high margins attract dodgy characters, too. Smugglers mislabel the goods as cotton to avoid Chinese tariffs. . Another destination for Indian hair is Bangladesh, where criminals run wig sweatshops. Earlier this year India placed restrictions on the export of human hair, requiring traders to seek a licence. It is unclear how crooks are affected by the regulations. Still, industry optimists hope the new rules will spur more domestic wigmaking, a higher-value business than exporting the raw stuff.

That is easier said than done, says Mr Ali. He believes there are not enough factories to process all of the hair available, and that only big firms get a licence to export. “We do not,” he says. The supply glut has trimmed prices. Hair agents are out of work. Sheikh Habib, a small exporter, says his business is suffering. “I had to throw hair into a lake,” he complains. Clamping down on smuggling is understandable. But it is legitimate traders who are having toupee.

 

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What’s the usage and who is buying

strange surprise.

Who is buying it ? Gross trade haha

And people use them? OmG

PLEASE, STOP USING TWITTER. Please, consider leaving this social media app. It ruins your mental health.

1.6mil usd a year profit ?!!

That's a weird profit, but then again it's money so a good deal it is

Gross

Eerie

*Sighs*…

Dad joke alert.

Very soon people are gonna be stealing hair 👀

There was a serious accident. The truck dropped the bags on the highway and the hair spread out, all over the road. Police is now combing the area.

Wait you’re telling me I can get $2,000 for a bag of hair How

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