Cashmere Grade A vs B vs C, Baby Cashmere, and Price Per Kilo: B2B Buyer’s Reference for Luxury Coats & Knitwear

When a B2B buyer sees a cashmere quote that says “Grade A cashmere, $42 per kilo”, three things need to be clarified before the quote can be compared to another supplier’s $38 per kilo: what “Grade A” means in micron and length, whether the fiber is undyed dehaired top or finished yarn, and whether the fiber is from adult goats or baby goats (Hircus kids). Without these three answers, the price comparison is meaningless.

This guide covers the four things a buyer needs to know to read cashmere grade quotes and price-per-kilo benchmarks correctly: how cashmere is graded A through C, what makes baby cashmere different and more expensive, what the typical 2026 price ranges look like across the fiber-to-garment chain, and how to negotiate or audit a quote based on the grade claimed.

The target audience is sourcing managers, brand owners, and trading company buyers placing cashmere orders for luxury coats, knitwear, or yarn that will be resold under a private label. The reference applies whether you are sourcing undyed dehaired fiber, finished yarn, woven fabric, or finished garments.

How Cashmere Fiber Is Graded

Cashmere is graded by micron range (fiber diameter) and length. The grade determines both the hand-feel and the price per kilo. There is no single industry-wide standard, but the most common grading convention used by mills in Inner Mongolia, Mongolia, and the major cashmere-producing regions is:

Grade	Micron range	Length (mm)	Typical use	Yield from raw fiber
Grade A (premium)	14.5-15.5 µm	32+ mm	Fine-gauge knitwear (12+ gauge), luxury coats, premium yarn	25-30%
Grade A/B (high grade)	15.5-16.5 µm	30-32 mm	Mid-gauge knitwear (7-12 gauge), premium woven fabric, premium accessories	28-33%
Grade B (standard)	16.5-17.5 µm	28-30 mm	Heavy-gauge knitwear (3-7 gauge), accessories, mid-range woven fabric	30-35%
Grade C (low grade)	17.5-19.5 µm	26-28 mm	Heavy outerwear, blanket, lowest-end decorative applications	35-40%
Below Grade C (rejected)	19.5+ µm	<26 mm	Felt, recycled blends, noil markets	<40% (often discarded)

The micron range is the primary quality indicator. Cashmere below 16 microns is the threshold for premium hand-feel — anything above 17 microns feels noticeably less soft and is excluded from premium brand programs. The length determines which spinning route (worsted vs woolen) the fiber can take and how fine the resulting yarn can be spun.

A common B2B mistake is comparing two suppliers’ “Grade A” quotes without checking the micron range. One supplier’s Grade A may be 14.5-15.5 microns at the top of the range; another’s may be 15.0-16.0 microns at the lower end of Grade A. Both are “Grade A”, but the first is materially finer and more expensive per kilogram. Always ask for the micron range and length spec behind any Grade A claim.

What Makes Baby Cashmere Different

Baby cashmere (called Hircus kids in industry terminology, or baby cashmere / underdown in retail marketing) is the first combing of cashmere goat kids, taken when the kid is 3-6 months old. The underdown is finer than the adult fiber by 2-3 microns, with better length and better uniformity. A baby cashmere fiber is typically 13.5-14.5 microns, against 14.5-15.5 microns for Grade A adult cashmere.

The underdown yield is much lower than adult fiber — about 30-40 grams per kid per combing, against 150-200 grams per adult goat per combing. To get 1 kg of dehaired baby cashmere requires the underdown of 25-30 kids, against 5-7 adult goats for 1 kg of dehaired Grade A cashmere. The yield economics drive the price premium:

• Baby cashmere fiber per kg is typically 30-50% more expensive than adult Grade A cashmere, depending on harvest year and supply tightness.
• Baby cashmere yarn per kg is typically 40-60% more expensive than adult Grade A yarn, because the lower yield compounds through spinning.
• Baby cashmere finished garments per piece can be 2-3x the price of equivalent adult cashmere garments, because the lower fiber yield and the marketing premium both stack.

A 2026 Inner Mongolia baby cashmere dehaired top quote is typically $80-120 per kg, against $50-65 per kg for adult Grade A. Finished baby cashmere 2/26 Nm yarn is typically $65-90 per kg, against $42-55 per kg for adult Grade A. A baby cashmere men’s knit sweater (Loro Piana-style) at retail typically retails for $1,500-3,000, against $500-1,200 for equivalent adult cashmere. These ranges are 2026 wholesale FOB China benchmarks; retail prices vary by brand positioning and country market.

A common B2B quality issue is that suppliers mislabel adult Grade A as baby cashmere, or sell “baby cashmere blend” that is actually 80% adult + 20% baby. The fiber is hard to distinguish visually after dehairing, and a buyer who has not established a relationship with a reliable dehairing line can be misled. The fix is to ask for the dehairing origin certificate showing the cooperative that the co-dehaired fiber came from, plus the age range of the goats in the cooperative’s kid flock. A reliable cooperative will have kid age records.

Reading Price Per Kilo Quotes

A cashmere quote specifies price per kilo at one of four points in the supply chain. Each point has a different price benchmark for the same grade:

Stage	What a kilo represents	2026 price range (FOB China, USD)	What to verify in the quote
Dehaired fiber top	Cleaned, combed cashmere ready for spinning	Grade A $50-65/kg, Grade B $30-40/kg, baby $80-120/kg	Micron range, length, dehairing yield, fiber origin
Finished yarn	Spun, undyed or dyed yarn on cones/skeins	Grade A 2/26 Nm $42-55/kg, baby 2/26 Nm $65-90/kg	Yarn count, ply, twist, spinning route, cone weight
Woven fabric	Finished cashmere woven fabric, off the loom	Grade A $30-45/m ($220-330/kg for ~150gsm fabric)	Width, weight per sqm, composition, finishing process
Finished garment	Cut and sewn cashmere garment, ready to ship	Grade A knit sweater $40-80/piece at wholesale; baby $80-200/piece	Construction (fully-fashioned vs cut-and-sewn), MOQ, lead time, finishing process

A common confusion is comparing a dehaired-fiber quote to a finished-yarn quote at the same price per kilo — the buyer thinks they are comparing apples to apples, but the supplier’s quote is for different stages of the supply chain. Always clarify which stage the price per kilo refers to, and remember that finished yarn is roughly 80-90% of the fiber weight (the rest is loss to spinning waste), so a $50/kg fiber quote is roughly a $55-65/kg yarn quote for the same fiber.

For luxury coats specifically, the relevant benchmark is the woven fabric price per meter (not per kilo), because coats are made from woven fabric not from yarn directly. A $30/m cashmere woven fabric at 150 gsm is roughly equivalent to $200/kg of fabric — a price point a buyer sourcing for a luxury coat program should expect to see quoted.

For yarn used in knitwear (sweaters, scarves, accessories), the relevant benchmark is the finished yarn price per kilo, with the understanding that a sweater typically uses 300-500 grams of yarn per piece (depending on gauge and size), so a $50/kg yarn translates to $15-25 of yarn per finished garment.

For accessories and small items (hats, gloves, socks), the yarn quote per kilo is the right benchmark, but the per-piece cost will be lower because each item uses less than 100 grams of yarn.

How to Audit a Cashmere Grade Claim

A supplier claiming “Grade A cashmere” should be able to answer three of your questions in writing:

1. What is the micron range and length spec for the fiber in this quote? A reliable answer is “14.5-15.5 µm, 32+ mm”. A vague answer is “premium grade” or “top quality” — both are marketing, not specs. The lab spec must be measurable in writing.
2. What is the dehairing yield from raw fiber to dehaired top for this lot? A reliable answer is “30-35%”. A suspicious answer is “50%+” which is impossible from honest dehairing. The yield tells you the fiber-to-top ratio, which is what you’re paying for.
3. What is the dehairing origin (which cooperative, which harvest year)? A reliable answer is a specific cooperative name and GPS coordinates (we publish a Certificate of Origin with each shipment). A vague answer is “Inner Mongolia” — too broad, includes a wide range of fiber quality.

If a supplier cannot answer all three, the quote is not auditable and you are buying on trust. The buyer is then dependent on the supplier’s reputation, which can be verified by:

• Asking for a fiber sample before placing the order (reputable suppliers will send 100-200 grams for testing)
• Asking for a third-party lab analysis on the fiber (e.g., SGS or Bureau Veritas for micron range and length)
• Asking for a fiber origin document traceable to a specific cooperative

A 100-gram fiber sample at the supplier’s cost (often included in the freight quote) is a small price to pay for verification on a 500 kg to 5-ton order. If a supplier refuses to send a sample, the fiber is not auditable and the order is high-risk.

2026 Price Reference (for sanity-checking quotes)

These ranges are 2026 FOB China benchmarks for undyed dehaired cashmere fiber top, shipped from Inner Mongolia. They are intended as sanity-check reference for new quotes — your actual price will depend on volume, micron spec, color, and market conditions.

• Grade A adult cashmere (14.5-15.5 µm, 32+ mm, white, dehaired top): $50-65 per kg
• Grade A/B adult cashmere (15.5-16.5 µm, 30-32 mm, white, dehaired top): $35-50 per kg
• Grade B adult cashmere (16.5-17.5 µm, 28-30 mm, white or natural, dehaired top): $30-40 per kg
• Grade C adult cashmere (17.5-19.5 µm, 26-28 mm, natural, dehaired top): $20-30 per kg
• Baby cashmere (13.5-14.5 µm, 30+ mm, white, dehaired top): $80-120 per kg

For colored (custom Pantone) cashmere, add a $5-15 per kg dyeing surcharge depending on the color complexity and minimum lot size. For natural brown cashmere, subtract $5-10 per kg from the Grade A white quote (because white accepts dye more uniformly).

For finished yarn, add the spinning cost ($10-20 per kg depending on count and route) to the fiber quote. For woven fabric, multiply the fiber quote by 2.5-3x to account for the spinning, weaving, and finishing cost.

For finished garments, multiply the fiber or yarn quote by 4-6x for a wholesale FOB price (depending on construction complexity and trim). A 350-gram cashmere knit sweater at $50/kg fiber is roughly $17-20 of fiber per piece, plus $20-30 of labor and finishing, plus $5-10 of trim and packaging, plus the mill’s margin — total $40-70 per piece at FOB China wholesale.

Negotiating on Grade

A B2B buyer negotiating a cashmere quote has three levers:

1. Micron range within a grade: A “Grade A” quote at 15.0-15.5 µm commands roughly 10-15% less than a “Grade A” quote at 14.5-15.0 µm. Ask for the lab spec and negotiate the micron range downward if the quote is at the top of Grade A and you can accept a slightly less fine fiber.
2. Color: White cashmere commands a 15-20% premium over natural brown cashmere. If your end-use accepts natural brown (e.g., undyed accessories, heather yarns, neutral knitwear), the brown quote can save 15-20% per kg.
3. Length: Longer fiber (32+ mm) commands roughly 10% premium over shorter fiber (28-30 mm). If your end-use is heavy-gauge knitwear that does not require worsted spinning, you can accept shorter fiber and save 10% per kg.

These three levers together can reduce a Grade A quote by 25-40% from the top-of-grade quote to a middle-of-grade quote for a slightly different fiber spec — without changing the grade label. The supplier is happy because they are moving fiber at a margin they have agreed to; you are happy because you have reduced per-kilo cost without dropping to Grade B.

What This Means for Your Next Cashmere Order

If you are sourcing Grade A cashmere for a luxury coat program or premium knitwear, the pricing benchmarks above tell you whether your supplier’s quote is in line with the 2026 market. A quote that is 20%+ below the benchmark range should be questioned (likely lower grade, shorter length, or lower yield than claimed). A quote that is 20%+ above the benchmark range should also be questioned (likely premium positioning or supplier margin on top of an audit-able fiber spec).

For a baby cashmere program specifically, the question is whether the supplier is mixing baby cashmere with adult cashmere at a higher-than-disclosed ratio. A 100% baby cashmere garment at $1,500-3,000 retail requires 250-350 grams of pure baby cashmere per piece, which at $90/kg yarn is $25-30 of yarn per garment — the rest is brand premium. If the supplier offers baby cashmere at less than $60/kg yarn, the fiber is likely not 100% baby.

Where to Verify on the Site

For our fiber micron range and origin certifications for specific lots, see our raw material page. For our finished yarn count and yarn pricing, see our yarn and fabric page. For our garment OEM process and MOQ requirements, see our contact page.

For pricing or to discuss your fiber or yarn order, send a spec sheet (desired micron range, length, color, quantity, target ex-works date) to our team. We respond within one business day with a confirmed fiber allocation, micron certification, and FOB / CIF / EXW quote.

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For B2B buyers negotiating cashmere quotes, the price-per-kilo benchmarks above are the reference for sanity-checking any quote. A quote that is in line with the 2026 benchmarks and is backed by a written micron spec, dehairing yield, and fiber origin document is auditable. A quote that is significantly off the benchmarks without a written spec is not — and a fiber sample before order placement is the standard way to verify before committing to a 500 kg or larger order.