Carpet exports up over 32% in Dec

India's carpet exports jumped over 32 per cent to $56.9 million in December 2010, year-on-year due to an increase in demand from the European market.

The carpet exports stood at $42.88 million in December 2009, according to the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) data.

"With the recovery in the European economy, we are seeing an increase in orders for our products. Also, the demand from the West Asian region is better," a CEPC official said.

The US and Europe together account for 70 per cent of the country's total carpet exports.

The sector saw a healthy exports performance in the first nine-months of the current fiscal. The council is expecting the exports to cross the target of $650 million for the current fiscal.

"We expect that the carpets shipments will touch $700 million in 2010-11, as there is a good demand for our products not only from our traditional markets like the US and Europe, but also from new markets like Russia," the CEPC said.

During April-December period of 2010-11, the exports increased by 19.6 per cent to $431.8 million against $360.9 million in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Carpets exports, which started declining since October 2008, had managed to turn positive in November 2009, posting a 18 per cent growth.

The sector employs 2.5 million people in India.