Textile industry struggling hard to find its moorings

21 Jul '08

3 min read

The Portuguese textile industry which had a peak turnover of Euro 8.33 billion in 2001 saw it drop to Euro 8.145 billion in 2004 and slump to Euro 6.925 billion in 2007.

Production of textiles and related products which was Euro 8.15 billion in 2001 also slipped to Euro 6.38 billion in 2007.

Corresponding figures of employment within the industry also reveal a similar trend. From a pinnacle of 243,264 in 2002, employment levels slipped to an estimated 187,326 in 2007.

The share of textile in overall of baskets of exports from Portugal has also been dipping steadily. From a zenith of 18.7 percent in 2000, it touched 15.0 percent in 2004 and has now plummeted to 11.5 percent in 2007.

The only silver lining noticeable, albeit marginal was the growth in textile and garment exports. Exports of the same rose from Euro 4.11 billion in 2006 to Euro 4.30 billion in 2007, an increase of 4.62 percent.

Imports also kept pace with exports by registering a growth. Imports in 2006 amounted to Euro 3.085 billion which rose to 3.332 billion in 2007 an amplification of 10.82 percent.

Among exports, textile products which include made-ups, sets, accessories, etc. accounted for the lion's share among exports with shipments reporting 26.2 percent of all textile exports.

Knitted apparels, man-made staple fibres and woven apparels account in that order registered percentages of 16.9, 16.2 and 11.0 respectively of all shipments made from the sector.

The biggest share in loss came from knitted apparels which had a share of 40.2 percent in 2006 followed by woven apparels which had stood at 20.0 percent.

The highest growth came from other textile products and man-made fibres which had shares of 14.7 percent and 5.9 percent respectively in 2006 among all shipments made from the textile and apparel industry.

Within the ambit of imports, cotton came out topper with consignments reaching 46 percent of all textile related imports in 2007 against just 17.8 percent in 2006.

The biggest dip in imports was witnessed by woven apparels. From 22.6 percent in 2006, it touched just 7.7 percent in 2007. Inward shipments of knitted apparels also fell to 9.0 percent in 2007 from 21.2 percent.

Imports of man-made staple fibre reached 11.6 percent and other textile products with 6.9 percent made up for the major products of import in to Portugal.

It can be safely said that the textile and apparel sector of Portugal is struggling hard to maintain the levels of the previous years with the only silver lining being the marginal growth in exports, but is negated by the corresponding growth rates in imports within the industry.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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