In first half of the ongoing year, the exports of clothing and textiles from Egypt to the US was around $455.6 million compared to $442.3 million during corresponding period of last year.
This means a three percent increase in exports of Egyptian clothing and textile to the US despite the downfall of 14.3 percent in overall American imports, due to financial meltdown in the US.
In an attempt to penetrate American markets, Egyptian products are successfully posting increased exports in terms of value as a part of (Qualified Industrial Zones) QIZ protocol.
Irrespective of the continuous plunge in clothing and textile imports by US, clothing imports from Egypt recorded an increase of 7.6 percent. In the year 2008, Egypt was ranked 17th out of 24 in the US imports, ahead of Jordan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Turkey, who are also signatories to the QIZ agreement.
This reveals that the American importers now prefer to buy the products from cheaper markets such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, Egypt at the expense of other major higher-cost markets such as Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea Turkey, said a report.
During first six months of 2009, there was 7 percent growth in Egyptian exports of synthetic clothing. In the US market for cotton trousers and shorts for men and women, Egypt was the sixth and ninth largest exporter respectively, and has become the second largest supplier of carpets made from synthetic fibers, to the US.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India