The Hindu : Business : India's textile imports from China up six-fold in 5 years

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Friday, Jan 06, 2006

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India's textile imports from China up six-fold in 5 years

Special Correspondent

China capitalises on higher production with lower prices

NEW DELHI: Textile imports from China have shown a spurt over the last five years with volumes rising by as much as 600 per cent. In addition, the country's overall textile exports have fallen by 10.1 per cent in the first nine months of the quota-free regime while exports of readymade garments dipped by 1.8 per cent.

Making this assessment, an industry study notes that China has become the leading source of the country's textile imports over the last five years.

Releasing the report on "Post ATC Competitiveness and Protectionism", the Assocham President, Anil K. Agarwal, noted that Chinese textile imports to India rose because their prices internationally witnessed a downtrend in the period which ushered cut-throat competition among all leading economies of textile products. China survived because of its higher production of textile products with lower prices, he said.

The study has found that the volumes of textile imports from China have gone up to $548.81 million in 2004-05 from $78.71 million in 2000-01. Out of India's total textile imports at $597.74 million in 2000-01, China's share was $78.71 million. This further rose by 597.26 per cent to $548.81 million in 2004-05 as India's total textile imports touched $1502.50 million.

In percentage terms, the Assocham study says that India's textile imports from China in 2000-01 were 13.17 per cent of total global textile imports and this almost tripled to 36.53 per cent in 2004-05.

In contrast, the study points out that the country's textile exports in the post-quota regime have dipped by 10.1 per cent to $4.7 billion during January-September 2005. Exports of readymade garments also fell by 1.8 per cent to $5 billion.

Exports of textile and readymade garments to the European Union, which accounts for 35.3 per cent of total exports, rose by a meagre 3.7 per cent to $3.4 billion during January-September 2005. During January-June 2005, India's textile exports to the U.S. increased by 24.2 per cent.

However, the chamber study points out that the textile sector fared well during the first half of 2005-06 as the weighted production index went up by 10.3 per cent as compared to 6.5 per cent during the corresponding period last year.

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