Peruvian apparel exports to rise steeply in 2011 – expert

24 May '11

2 min read

Jose Luis Peroni, President of the apparel committee of Peru's leading textiles association, ACOTEX said that, riding on the back of heavy domestic consumption and positive exports, the textiles and apparel industry of Peru is set to achieve considerable gains during the current year.

According to Peroni's estimates, domestic sales would grow by 10 percent from last year's two billion US dollars, while the exports would grow by 12 percent to US $1.6 billion as the Andean country continues exploring new markets in Europe and Latin America.

Peroni said that, the current year would be a positive one, as competition from China is declining, it would allow the domestic market to grow, while several apparel chains are expected to boost their investment to expand in the domestic as well as overseas markets.

Rise in the domestic demand and intensifying sourcing woes in China have allowed the Peruvian apparel producers to reclaim their market share after suffering heavy losses due to incursion of Asian competitors.

Besides, he said that, the industry and consumer drive against the "sub-value and low-quality" garments from China has also tarnished the image of China's textile industry, and has enhanced buyer's interest in Peruvian apparel brands.

Meanwhile, Peru's economy is developing robustly, with rise in consumption and also in number of malls and outlets. This has thus generated new growth prospects for domestic brands.

The Peruvian producers, in order to meet this soaring demand have refurbished their abilities, like building capacity to produce stylish premium quality apparels in bulk and to speed up the shipments, Peroni said.

Furthermore, in recent years, the domestic industry has also considerably boosted its investment to establish itself as a full-fledged producer of value-added upmarket garments.

Peroni believes that, the current year's export rise would spring from the country's endeavours to penetrate into newer markets.

Owing to increasing sales to Europe and Latin America, export share of the US which conventionally has been the biggest buyer of Peruvian textiles, has plummeted from 70 percent to 58 percent just within a few year's span. Germany, Italy, UK, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil are now the major export destinations for Peruvian textiles.

While concluding Peroni said that, the investments are expected to cross the last year's US $150 million mark this year, as the domestic brands keep on expanding.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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