US textiles & apparel imports up 28.05% in January 2022

Apparel constituted the bulk of textiles and garments imports made by the US in January 2022, and were valued at $7.540 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for $2.648 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 Indonesia, India, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh shot up by 57.80 per cent, 53.40 per cent, 47.11 per cent, 44.41 per cent and 45.53 per cent year-on-year respectively. On the other hand, imports from Honduras registered a growth of only 13.26 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Cambodia, Italy and South Korea soared by 53.29 per cent, 38.24 per cent and 37.89 per cent respectively.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $10.189 billion during the month under review, cotton products were worth $4.534 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $5.179 billion, followed by $246.865 million of wool products, and $229.188 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 end at $113.938 billion.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)