US textiles & apparel imports up 29.61% in Jan-Feb 2022

Apparel constituted the bulk of textiles and garments imports made by the US in January-February 2022, and were valued at $15.021 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for $5.170 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, imports from Pakistan and Indonesia shot up by 61.06 per cent and 55.97 per cent year-on-year respectively. Imports from China, India, Bangladesh and Cambodia too grew between 44-50 per cent. On the other hand, imports from Honduras registered a growth of only 15.24 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Cambodia soared by 64.62 per cent year-on-year. Imports from Italy and South Korea too climbed 33.08 per cent and 22.10 per cent respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $20.191billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $9.011 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $10.207 billion, followed by $473.648 million of wool products, and $499.986 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2020, the US textile and apparel imports had decreased sharply, mainly on account of the COVID-19 pandemic induced disruption, to $89.596 billion compared to imports of $111.033 billion in 2019. But imports rebounded again in 2021 to surpass pre-pandemic level and ended at $113.938 billion.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)