Textile Exports To US on the Rise

After declining several months because of the global financial melt down, textile exports to the US are finally back on track, recording a significant growth in February and March.

Textile and apparel exports to the US, which account for more than a quarter of shipments made by the industry, rose 8.3 per cent year-on-year in March to 487.8 million US dollar. Exports increase by 7.7 per cent year-on-year to 443.6 million US dollar in February, data with the office of US department of commerce shows. Apparel exports to the US, however, posted a moderate 2.8 per cent in growth in March to 315.1 million US dollar. “ Demand has started to pickup in the US. The bookings are quite reasonable and trade enquiries have also been quite good,” AEPC chairman, Mr. Premal Udani has said in Coimbatore recently.
“We are observing a real improvement across all segments of the industry. Orders are coming in and after nearly two years of slowdown we are witnessing a recovery ,” managing director, KPR Mills, Mr. Nataraj said. The recovery is slowly taking shape in both domestic and international markets. This year (fiscal 2011) would definitely be better, Tirupur Exporters Association president, Mr. A. Sakthivel said. Garment exports to the EU, the largest market bloc for Indian markets, however, continues to remain weak. “Europe (demand) is somewhat weak because of the uncertainty faced by some countries in the region, Mr. Udani added.

“ Orders to EU countries have been quite weak but the US has been much better,” an exporter said. Apparel exports to the EU are estimated to have comedown by 16.8 per cent to 4.5 billion US dollar in fiscal 2010. While the industry is witnessing a silver lining, some officials advise caution. Though enquiries are good, exporters are finding it difficult to convert them into orders as they have been adversely hit by rising raw material prices and the rupee appreciation, Mr. Sakthivel added.