May textile exports dip over 12% as demand from Europe, US declines

India’s textile and apparel exports for the month of May dipped by 12.2 per cent year-on-year, mainly due to the decline in demand in the Europe and the United States market.  

Industry experts, however, foresee a reversal in the declining trend by July owing to moderating cotton prices and inflation in the West. Cumulative textile and apparel exports in May stood at $2,816.39 million, as compared to $3,206.43 million a year ago. Textile exports alone were down 12 per cent to $1,580.57 million, from $1,791.26 million last year. Apparel exports too dipped to $1,235.82 million, down 13 per cent from $1,415.17 million in May 2022.

“Negative growth has been happening for almost a year. This is predominantly due to slackness in demand all across. While Europe is facing inflation, high interest rates are dampening demand in the tech space in the US. In my 25 years of working in the industry, I have never seen such a sustained slowdown in demand. Now, domestic demand is also very low and the combined impact is leading to a slowdown in textile and clothing,” said Sanjay Kumar Jain of Delhi-based TT Ltd. During April-May this year, textile and apparel segments saw a cumulative decline of 17 per cent to $5,568.74 million, from $6,722.89 million last year, said a report by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). In the first two months, textile exports on a standalone basis dipped by 16.4 per cent, apparel by 18.2 per cent.  

"The decline has been lower in the current month. Our expectation is that from July onwards, exports will pick up. Chinese markets have opened up, cotton prices have moderated and inflation in large countries has come down, leading to an increase in purchasing power,” said Siddhartha Rajagopal, Executive Director of Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council. He added inflation is still high by Western Standards and in the US, the removal of stimulus is also adding to this.

The share of textile and apparel in overall exports declined to 8.05 per cent in May, from 8.22 per cent in May 2022. During the month, exports of cotton yars/fabs/made-ups/handloom products posted a dip of 12 per cent to $920.28 million, from $1,042.81 million last year. Products like manmade yarns/fabs/made-ups also dipped 6.3 per cent to $395.16 million.

Indicating a subsequent decline in domestic demand, cotton raw and waste imports during the month posted a degrowth of 40 per cent to $58.07 million in May this year, as against $96.47 million last year. Similarly, textile-yarn fabrics and made-ups imports too dipped 12 per cent to $188.39 million compared to $213.92 million in May last financial year.