Category-wise, apparel exports increased by 13.91 per cent year-on-year to $1,169.211 million, while fabric exports rose by 1.88 per cent to $1,366.608 million in January-February this year. However, exports of yarn and made-up and miscellaneous articles decreased by 2.11 per cent to $685.527 million and 9.08 per cent to $594.115 million, respectively, during the same period. 

Among the top ten markets, textile and apparel shipments to the Netherlands increased by 44.45 per cent to $77.987 million in the first two months of 2023. Exports also increased to the United Kingdom (30.29 per cent) and Mexico (2.71 per cent). However, shipments to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada, China, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Japan experienced a decline of up to 43.26 per cent. The US supplied $1,116.960 million worth of textiles and apparel to Mexico during this period, followed by $860.248 million to Canada and $215.519 million to Honduras. 

US textile and apparel exports increased by 9.77 per cent to $24.866 billion in 2022 compared to $22.652 billion in 2021. In recent years, US textile and clothing exports have remained in the range of $22-25 billion per annum. In 2014, they stood at $24.418 billion, while the figure was $23.622 billion in 2015, $22.124 billion in 2016, $22.671 billion in 2017, $23.467 billion in 2018, and $22.905 billion in 2019. The value dropped to $19.330 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)