As the demand for denim in the global market slowed down, Japan's jeans garments and material exports registered a significant drop.
During the first half 2006, country exported 25.051 million square meters of denim, representing year-on-year fall of 16.4 percent.
Exports to Italy declined 33.7 percent followed by Hong Kong, the US and China that recorded a plunge of 30.9, 20.8 and 7.6 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, denim exports to Vietnam remained strong at 1.871 million square meters, supporting Japan's cotton denim fabric industry to record a 7.0 percent growth to reach a modest figure of 1.297 million square meters.