Garment exports down by 15% in April-June

Garment exports fell 15.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2009-10, as demand from the major export markets of the United States and the European Union showed no signs of recovery.

Data released by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) show India exported clothes worth $2.41 billion in the quarter ended June 2009, as compared to $2.85 billion in the same period last year.

The month of May registered the highest decline of 11.35 per cent to $765 million, while April and June saw a fall of 8.71 per cent and 10.15 per cent, respectively, to $809 million and $870 million.

Exports of silk garments suffered the most in the quarter, which saw a drop of 29.31 per cent to $82 million, followed by a 27.2 per cent fall in exports of clothes made from man-made fibres to $261 million.

Cotton garments saw a drop of 14.13 per cent to $1.86 billion in the quarter, while woollen garments tumbled 7 per cent to $93 million. Apparel made from other textiles also saw a decline of 5.5 per cent to $189 million. “The erosion in exports was spread across all sectors,” AEPC Chairman Rakesh Vaid said.

In the previous fiscal (2008-09), Indian apparel exports were 14 per cent short of the target of $11.62 billion and levelled at $10.17 billion, 4 per cent increase on a year-on-year basis.

AEPC has recommended more sops for apparel exporters in the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy. These include increasing duty-free scrips, which are currently 2 per cent of the export values for the US and the EU, to 5 per cent, inclusion of apparel in the focus product scheme, duty-free import of specialised fabrics not produced in India.