According to textile and apparel industry sources, exports to the US have risen by close to 20 per cent for the month of July. While the square metre equivalent (sme) of textile and apparel exports from India rose from 1606.225 million sme in July 2009 to 1924.060 million sme in July 2010.
“The order books from the US and other countries have begun increasing gradually. The month of July has shown almost 20 per cent rise in textile and apparel (T&A) imports from India for US, which is also the exports for the month of May-June for India. Moreover, due to rise in cotton and yarn prices in India as well as decline in prices in the US, unit realization for Indian exporters has also been improving marginally,” said DK Nair, general secretary, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
Seconding Nair is A Sakthivel, president of Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA), who said that the while overall exports from the region is almost stagnant, exports to the US has been increasing gradually. Annually, Tirupur exports textiles worth Rs 11,500 crore, 40 per cent of which goes to the US.
While the rise in T&A imports for US for the month of July from India has been 19.79 per cent in sme, in terms of unit realization the growth has been around 14 per cent.
According to Rakesh Chaudhary, executive director, South Gujarat Textile Exporters Association (SGTEA), the unit realization is expected to grow in couple of months.
However, CITI also expressed concerns over cotton availability and pricing for future exports.
“The availability of cotton has been an issue. If cotton is exported, there would not be enough cotton for producers to source within the country and production might be affected. This, in turn, may affect the exports, Nair added.
