US textiles & apparel imports down 6.98% in Jan-Feb 2021

Apparel constituted the bulk of the textiles and garments imports made by the US during the initial two months of this year, and were valued at $10.914 billion, while non-apparel imports accounted for the remaining $4.666 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 showed growth of 13.45 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, imports from Indonesia, Jordan and India registered a sharp decline of 29.64 per cent, 23.39 per cent and 21.89 per cent respectively compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the non-apparel category, among the top ten suppliers, imports from Turkey, India and Pakistan shot up by 48 per cent, 20.48 per cent and 19.98 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, imports from South Korea were marginally down by 0.89 per cent to $118.362 million.

Of the total US textile and apparel imports of $15.58 billion during the period under review, cotton products were worth $6.951 billion, while man-made fibre products accounted for $7.994 billion, followed by $326.278 million of wool products and $308.562 million of products from silk and vegetable fibres.

In 2020, the US textile and apparel imports had decreased sharply, mainly on account of the disruption caused due to COVID-19 pandemic, to $89.602 billion compared to imports of $111.038 billion in 2019.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)