Fortunes of Tirupur clothing exports on decline

14 Sep '09

2 min read

The textile cluster of Tirupur, which accounts for around 65% of the country's knitwear exports, has seen its fortunes dipping since the last two fiscal years. After touching a high of Rs 110 billion in 2006-07, knitwear exports from Tirupur fell to Rs 99.5 billion in 2007-08 and declined by another 5 percent in 2008-09 to touch Rs 95.0 billion.

Speaking to Fibre2fashion, Mr A Sakthivel, President of the Tirupur Exporters' Association said that, “Last fiscal year, knitwear exports were down by 6-7 percent and in the current year, over all export turnover too has fallen by 5-7 percent”.

“To add to our woes, overseas buyers are continuously pressurizing the apparel manufacturers to lower prices. Last year prices were cut by 5-7 percent, but they are still demanding more”, lamented Mr Sakthivel.

He said, “We are seeking support from Goverment to revitalize present situation, for which the Government has formed a duty drawback committee and so we have surmised data for claiming duty draw back”.

He added by saying, “Exporters are expectantly waiting for the duty draw back announcement soon, and once the duty drawback is increased by 5 percent, order position is expected to improve in the near future”.

“Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) should not sell cotton to big traders, but to only those who directly consume the cotton and it also should be sold at global prices, because sometimes, domestic prices are higher than international prices”, he advised.

Other experts from the sector forewarn of a 10 percent drop in clothing exports in the current fiscal year.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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