Clothing saw 5% YoY growth, textiles 7% fall during Jan-Sep 2021: WTO

The textiles category includes surgical masks, which surged earlier in the pandemic. The higher baseline for these products may explain their decline in the third quarter, WTO said in a note.

The forecast of a 10.8 per cent increase in merchandise trade for 2021 could still be achieved if volume growth picks up in the fourth quarter. This is a real possibility since measures to unblock container ports on the US West Coast met with some success, WTO said.

“Nevertheless, the emergence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 appears to have tipped the balance of risks towards the downside, increasing the chance of a more negative outcome,” the multilateral trade body noted.

The main reason for the dip in merchandise trade volume in the third quarter was weaker than forecasted imports in North America and Europe. This translated into reduced exports from those regions and also from Asia. Asian imports contracted in the third quarter, but this decline was anticipated in the October trade forecast.

In contrast to volume, the value of world merchandise trade continued to climb in the third quarter as export and import prices rose sharply.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)