Apparel exporters worried despite surge in orders

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 3

With western countries returning to normalcy, apparel exporters are witnessing a surge in orders. However, high ocean freight and yarn price is acting as a dampener in the competitive export environment.

According to exporters, as the global demand rebounded faster than the domestic market, it’s an opportunity for them. According to insiders, major MNCs in the US and Europe don’t want to be dependent on China fully and they will divert some of their sourcing to India in addition to other countries.

“Initially, during the second wave of Covid in India, international players had moved 10-15% of orders to countries such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Concerned over the situation, the exporters had a dialogue with their clients and they were able to win their confidence and orders have started picking up,” said Lalit Thukral, president, Noida Apparel Exporters Cluster.

High yarn price stumbling block

The exporters are in a catch-22 situation. Though they are witnessing a surge in orders, high yarn price is acting as a stumbling block. The prices have risen by 50% in the past few months. —Harish Dua, President, Knitwear and apparel exporters organisation

“The sales are picking up in the US and western countries and they need stock,” said Thukral. With the surge in orders, major apparel hubs such as Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Panipat, Gurugram and Noida are likely to be benefitted. Europe and the US are India’s biggest markets for garment exports.

According to the exporters, since December 2019, ocean prices have gone up by almost 300% on major routes.