US textile & apparel imports rise 5.65% in Q1 2018

Apparel constituted the bulk of the textiles and garments imports made by the US in January-March 2018, and were valued at $19.228 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $6.415 billion, according to the latest Major Shippers Report, released by the US department of commerce.

Segment-wise, among the top ten apparel suppliers to the US, exports from Cambodia showed double-digit growth of 12.52 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, imports from Indonesia and Sri Lanka registered a decline of 5.78 per cent and 10.36 per cent respectively, compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Vietnam, China and Turkey shot up by 113.34 per cent, 34.91 per cent and 29.46 per cent year-on-year to $160.589 million, $2.831 billion and $264.139 million, respectively. Imports from Italy and Mexico too grew by 22.17 per cent and 13.30 per cent respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $25.644 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $11.465 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $12.866 billion, followed by $710.895 million of wool products and $600.693 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2017, the US textile and apparel imports had increased by 1.25 per cent year-on-year to $105.968 billion, with apparel alone accounting for $80.269 billion. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India