'International Denim Conference' off to a deafening start
29 Oct '10
7 min read
He added by saying that Government of Gujarat was providing impetus for the growth of technical textiles and the apparel sector and special efforts are being taken by various state and central government agencies like Atira and Mantra to help support the same.
The keynote address on the first day of the conference was presented by Robin Anson - Managing Editor, Textiles Intelligence, United Kingdom. Textiles Intelligence is a leading provider of business information on the global fibre, textile and apparel industries - via printed publications, online access to news and information, and conference presentations from our team of industry experts.
Robin presented a paper on “Denim and Jeans: a global perspective and India's potential in a competitive marketplace”. He began the presentation by taking the delegates from the time the word denim was coined in France and the first pair of jeans was worn by Genoese sailors to the first commercialization by Levi Strauss in 1853. However, denim jeans became a fashion rage, thanks to a movie by the name of “Rebel without a cause”.
The biggest denim fabric exporter without question is China which shipped fabric valued at around $920 million in 2009 to seize a global market share of 24.5 percent. The second slot was surprisingly held by Hong Kong with around $860 million and a share of 18.8 percent, Turkey with $325 million and 8.6 percent, Italy $300 million and 8.0 percent, Pakistan around $225 million and 6.6 percent, India around $180 million and 4.2 percent, followed by Japan, Spain and Brazil.
Among the major denim fabric importing countries are Hong Kong with a share of 17.8 percent, Tunisia 11.8 percent, China 10.6 percent, Mexico 8.0 percent, Turkey 7.9 percent, Italy 5.1 percent, USA and Morocco, both 3.8 percent, Colombia 2.2 percent and the other countries add up to 30.1 percent of all imports.
Denim fabric imports by the US and the 27-member European Union have been plunging since 2005. From around $150 million in 2005, US imports have sky-dived to just round $75 million in 2009 and those of EU have sunk from €255 million to €150 in the same period.
In the case of men's jeans, the US imported around 110 million pieces from Mexico in the period Sept 2009 to Aug 2010. China and Bangladesh followed Mexico with exports totaling to around 70 million pairs, each. India stands at 14th place with exports amounting to around 1.5 million pieces in the same period and is preceded by countries like Nicaragua, Lesotho and Guatemala in jeans exports to the US.
According to Anson, with regards to opportunities available to the Indian denim producers, Chinese denim producers will prove to be less of a threat, mainly due to rising labour costs, the appreciating Yuan, social instability due to migrant labour and although costs are low in remote regions, products take too long to get to the sea ports.
Among other opportunities for Indian denim manufacturers, he foresees that the demand growth in retail is set to resume in regions and countries like; China, USA, Western Europe, Latin America and economies in transition and also due to the fact that, denim will stay in fashion in the foreseeable future.
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