Asia to enter new phase of textile & apparel consumption

13 Aug '13

2 min read

Asia has become the world’s largest textile and clothing supplier, and the region is now about to enter a new phase of textile and apparel consumption, according to analysts.

From 2007 to 2012, the Chinese and the Indian markets grew at 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively, outperforming other major consuming regions like the US, the EU and Japan, where economic slowdown led to lower demand growth.

Both China and India developed rapidly in online retail network during the past few years, while also stressing on domestic brand development to provide support for the development of the market.

The level of consumption in both these countries is likely to increase further, analysts say. Consumer preferences are changing in China towards fashion-oriented clothing, while organized retail in branded goods is developing in India.

From the perspective of the entire Asian clothing industry, some experts believe that some countries are too much dependent on the garment industry for economic development, and the price of clothing exports to Europe is still low.

The textile and garment industry within Asia is showing an increasingly competitive situation, and the next 3-4 years would see further division between high-end and low-end garment manufacturers.

China, Thailand and Vietnam would increasingly move towards producing high-end multi-functional clothing, while Bangladesh, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia would mainly produce low-end apparels.

In Southeast Asia and South Asia, some countries are heavily dependent on imported raw materials and accessories, so the net value added garment industry is difficult to improve in short-term. There is also a problem of lower labour productivity, which causes headache to investors. In addition, some enterprises, especially infant wear manufacturing companies, are facing product quality pressures.

Southeast Asian and South Asian countries have low labour cost advantage compared to China, and hence, China’s garment industry is shifting some low-end manufacturing to these regions.

However, the Chinese clothing industry still has an absolute advantage in terms of the level of technology, machinery manufacturing and other aspects.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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