Silk ties and handkerchiefs are forecast to rise in price after the cost of silk jumped to its highest level in at least fifteen years as rapid industrialisation in China, the world's largest supplier, robs the sector of valuable farm land.

　　丝绸领带和手帕价格预计将会上涨，原因是丝绸成本已飙升到至少15年来的最高水平。中国是全球最大的丝绸供应国，但快速的工业化，从该行业夺走了宝贵的农田。

　　The price of silk cocoons, the raw material for the fabric used in expensive items of clothing, has doubled since the start of 2009 to 92,700Rmb ($13,577) a tonne in mid-April, according to the China Cocoon and Silk Exchange.

　　根据中国茧丝绸交易市场(China Cocoon and Silk Exchange)的数据，蚕茧（贵重衣物所用的面料的原材料）价格自2009年初以来已经翻倍，至4月中旬涨至每吨9.27万元人民币（合1.3577万美元）。

　　European merchants and weavers said the price of raw silk, the variety traded internationally, had followed a similar trend. “It is rising every day, every week,” said Christian Morel Journel, a silk merchant in Lyon, France.

　　欧洲贸易商人和编织业者表示，国际贸易中的生丝价格出现了类似走势。“每天、每周都在涨价，”法国里昂的丝绸商人克里斯蒂安·莫雷尔·耶内尔(Christian Morel Journel)表示。

　　The urbanisation of the key silk-growing region around Shanghai has reduced the land available for mulberry trees, whose leaves are the only thing silk worms eat.

　　上海附近主要养蚕地区的城市化，减少了桑树的种植面积，桑叶是蚕的唯一食物。

　　“It's as if you had a very large city in Champagne on the soil of the famous wine,” Mr Morel Journel bemoaned.

　　“这就像在（法国）香槟地区出现一座很大的城市，抢走了本来出产名酒的土地，”莫雷尔·耶内尔惋惜地表示。

　　Chinese output fell 15 per cent to 84,000 tonnes last year, according to the International Sericultural Commission, and a drought that began in late 2009 has further reduced production. China accounts for 70 per cent of global silk production.

　　据国际蚕业委员会(International Sericultural Commission)介绍，中国去年的产出下跌15%，至8.4万吨，而2009年末开始的干旱，已进一步降低了产量。中国占全球生丝产量的70%。

　　The rally coincides with a surge in the cost of other natural fibres: coarse wool, used for carpets, has soared to the highest level since 1980, while cotton is near a 14-year high.

　　生丝价格上涨之际，其它天然纤维的成本也在激增：用于地毯的粗羊毛价格已飙升至1980年以来的最高水平，而棉花价格也逼近14年高位。

　　Silk accounts for a small part of the final price of fine clothing. But David Tooth, chairman of Vanners, a 270-year-old silk weaver in Suffolk, England, which supplies brands such as Burberry and Ralph Lauren, expects retail prices to rise 10-20 per cent in the near term.

　　生丝在高级丝绸衣物的最终价格中只占一小部分。但在英格兰萨福克郡，有270年历史、向巴宝莉(Burberry)和拉夫·劳伦(Ralph Lauren)等品牌供货的丝绸编织商Vanners董事长戴维·涂斯(David Tooth)预期，零售价格将在近期内上涨10%-20%。

　　Demand of silk has sagged in modern times with the arrival of artificial fibres, which are cheaper and easier to clean.

　　随着更便宜、更易于清洗的人造纤维的问世，丝绸需求在现代已经走低。

　　The drop in supply has coincided with an increase in demand that has squeezed the market.

　　此次供应下降之际，适逢需求抬头，从而对市场形成了挤压。