24th April 2018
India’s handloom obsession starts talk of an “endgame” in its clothing export industry
India's obsession with the politics of hand-weaving means clothes exports are falling sharply. And they were in a surprisingly mediocre position to start with. In the financial year to February, they...
Read Story
24th May 2017
EU adds Sri Lanka to its duty-free GSP+ programme
The European Union has reinstated Sri Lanka to its GSP+ programme, a special arrangement under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences aimed at encouraging sustainable development and good governance. As from May...
Read Story
30th March 2017
Apparel making jobs target in key Indian state “98% below target”
The apparel making job creation target in India's Maharashtra state (the area round Mumbai) seems to be 98% below its 2012 target, according to its 2016-17 Economic Survey. A 2012 plan...
Read Story
28th March 2017
Burma best-performing major 2016 supplier: Cambodia, India, Philippines and Morocco do worst
Burma showed the strongest growth among apparel suppliers to developed countries in 2016, as the total volume shipped worldwide fell for the first time in five years . Clothesource Tradetrak measures...
Read Story
7th February 2017
US 2016 apparel imports fall in spite of year-end spurt. Price falls accelerated
US apparel imports (in square metres) grew 3.4% in December 2016 over December 2015, though falls in the previous six months a 2016 annual fall of 1.1%. Average prices per square metre...
Read Story
7th June 2016
No other country’s going to step into China’s shoes
In the first three months of this year, we saw a massive drop in Chinese apparel exports to the US. It doesn't mean the end of China's dominance. There's a...
Read Story
12th February 2016
Are apparel prices really rising?
Just about every apparel industry commentator on the planet is constantly going on about rising cost prices. But do any of them look at what buyers are paying? In the year to...
Read Story
5th November 2015
US September imports continue growth trend
US apparel imports in September, measured in square metres of apparel, grew 4.8%, bringing growth in the moving annual total (MAT) to September to 6.1%. As in most Septembers, China's...
Read Story
11th August 2015
First “currency war” theats as Chinese devaluation worries rest of world
Threats of retaliation against China were mounting as a 1.9% devaluation announced on August 11 turned into a 4.4% fall by August 14. The devaluations followed a July 8.3%year-on-year fall...
Read Story
6th August 2015
India halts EU free trade talks. Again
India announced on August 5 that it had decided "to defer for the present" the resumption of free trade negotiations with the EU over a dispute about pharmaceutical exports. Negotiations...
Read Story
28th July 2015
Chinese apparel exports hit hard as Eurozone and Japanese apparel imports tumble
The US dollar value of Chinese apparel exports continued to fall in June. But, with exports to the UK and US remaining healthy, the fall seems mostly the result of...
Read Story
19th June 2015
China almost hardest hit as April rich-country garment imports drop.
Rich-country apparel imports from China fell particularly fast in April, as rich country imports overall were hit by sharp declines in the EU and Japan. Overall, rich-country apparel imports in...
Read Story