Exporters eye US apparel chains

In a bid to increase garment exports to the US by 30 per cent from the present $2 billion, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has outlined plans to target at least a dozen large retail chains to take advantage of the opening up of the textile trade next year.

An AEPC delegation of around 75 exporters will visit Dallas and New York in June in the run up to the removal of quotas under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.

The exporters will meet representatives from retail chains like Wal Mart, Macy, K Mart, JC Penney and GAP. Apart from this, the delegation will also be holding meetings with other large US importers.

The AEPC has often organised buyer-seller meetings in the US but not on such a scale.

Over a third of India's $2 billion garment exports are to the US, with Europe being the largest export destination.

According to the latest AEPC data, of India's total garment exports of $1.14 billion during January and February, exports to the US were valued at $378.5 million, 17.43 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year.

AEPC Chairman A Sakthivel said preliminary meetings had already been held with US retailers and importers and there were indications there would be a spurt in garment exports once quotas were lifted.

A recent DHL-McKinsey report has projected a 15-18 per cent annual increase in India's textiles exports for a sustained period. That would mean Indian exports would capture nearly five per cent of the global trade by 2008.

A report by the US International Trade Commission had also said India could be the next biggest winner after China.

The report had said because of countries retaining the right to impose safeguard duties on Chinese imports a large number of buyers were looking at sourcing textile products from India.

Of late, international retailers have been visiting India to source products like under wear, sleep wear and knitwear like T-shirts once export quotas are lifted.

Some international buyers are also planning to source a part of their fabric requirement from Indian companies but are facing quality and quantity bottlenecks.