Improve your global sourcing strategies with Clothesource

14 Nov '08

3 min read

With all the helter-skelter of inflation and currency shifts, there are a lot of misconceptions about the changing competitiveness of apparel exporting countries. The Clothesource Sourcing Kit gives apparel brands, retailers and vendors hard up-to-date data, imaginatively displayed, to review their sourcing programmes objectively, quickly and affordably.

Clothesource, the UK's leading consultant in apparel sourcing, has been overwhelmed by the number of brands and retailers wanting to review their apparel sourcing strategies.

Clothesource's CEO Mike Flanagan said “People want to be sure they're buying from the right place. But there are all sorts of misconceptions out there. China's never the cheapest place to buy clothes from. But in most product categories, China was actually cheaper for European customers in 2008 than it was in 2007. There are even apparel categories that got cheaper for US customers in 2008.

And, though many countries claim their apparel exports fell in 2008, several – like Vietnam and Bangladesh – saw rapid growth. But only in some categories. The Clothesource Souring Kit provides the essential information about apparel manufacturing capabilities around the world in the 35 major apparel categories and in over 100 countries.

For each of over 100 supplying countries, the Kit shows apparel manufacturing strengths, and price competitiveness in each of 35 major product categories and seven apparel business groups from 2004 to the first half of 2008. It also shows raw material production and processing capacity, and summarises the import duty and quota restrictions the US and EU impose on each country, as well as indicating precisely where more detailed information can be got on each of the different complex duty arrangements separately offered .

The Kit provides macroeconomic information on income and inflation and a summary of the logistic and ethical implications of work in the country. For 35 apparel product categories, the Kit shows where the world's major apparel importing countries – Japan, the US and EU – buy their garments from, how supplier countries' share has evolved, how supplier countries' price competitiveness varies between countries, and how countries' price competitiveness has changed from the abolition of textile quotas at the end of 2004 to the first half of 2008.

The Clothesource Sourcing Kit provides the essential information about every manufacturing country's capabilities, competitiveness and effectiveness since quotas were removed in 2005.. “And with Western markets softening”, added Flanagan, “more and more textile businesses in developing markets are looking for help in identifying their competitors' strength”

Clothesource Limited, based in Charlbury, Oxford, UK and Bucharest, Romania, provides the world's leading apparel retailers, brands and exporters with market intelligence on apparel trading.

Clothesource

More Apparel/Garments News - United Kingdom...