Philippine garment exporters concerned over logistics woes

12 Jun '21

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Philippine garment exporters recently joined calls for the government to step in and address the deteriorating shipping and logistics situation in the country. The domestic garment industry is losing millions of dollars due to the supply chain squeeze, according to Robert Young, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT) trustee for the textile sector and president of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP).

Exporters are facing transport issues, including vessel capacity constraints and surging freight prices, leading to cargo delays of two weeks to two months and revenue setbacks.

The situation is creating production space issues, shipment delays and cash flow issues, according to a report in a Philippine newspaper.

This, along with other issues like slow release of permits and import license, rising cost and shortage of raw materials adds to manufacturing cost and leads to continuing loss of business in favour of Vietnam and Indonesia.

Cost of freight has gone up from around $4,000 per 40-foot container to $12,000, which makes products uncompetitive.

PHILEXPORT president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. earlier said that while this is a global issue that may be beyond anyone’s control, the government and private sector must still work closely together to effectively address the logistics constraints.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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