The Hindu Business Line : India may gain from declining US textile sector fortunes

THE declining fortunes of the textile processing industry in the US is forcing it to import as much as 56 per cent of its cotton made-ups, 46 per cent of fabrics, and 8 per cent of cotton yarn.

Cotton textile producers China, India, Pakistan and Canada stand to gain from the closure of textile mills and the dwindling number of spindles and shuttleless looms in the US.

According to a Dun & Bradstreet study - Market Studies for Cotton Textile Products - commissioned by Texprocil, India will be able to exploit these opportunities in 2005 if it builds on its strengths in made-ups, fabric and the home textiles. However, the Indian textile companies need to come out with innovative price-product strategies to meet the China challenge and competition from Pakistan in the made-ups segment.

In 2003, the US textiles and clothing market was $77 billion, of which apparels were worth $61 billion and textiles $16 billion. Of this, cotton textiles were worth $6.6 billion.

Clearly, finished cotton textile products are rapidly replacing fabric in US's import mix. In 1998, imports of yarn were 5.9 per cent ($283 million), made-ups 44.8 per cent ($2.2 billion) and fabrics 49.3 per cent ($2.4 billion) of the total textile imports.

By 2003, made-ups had climbed to 59.7 per cent ($3.9 billion) and yarn and fabric imports were down to 4.8 per cent ($0.3 billion) and 35.5.per cent ($2.3 billion) respectively.

In value terms, China's exports of cotton textiles to the US accounted for 26.7 per cent, Canada's 9.5 per cent, India's 7.4 per cent and Pakistan's exports 7.4 per cent.

In the yarn segment, the US imports amounted to $317 million, with Mexico ruling the roost with a 21.9 per cent share, Pakistan with 19 per cent and Canada with 13.1 per cent. India had only a 0.01 per cent share of this market.

US imports of yarns were steady at around $300 million in 1998-2003. While US imports of carded yarn have been on the decline since 2000, imports of combed yarn have risen steadily since 2001. In the post-quota regime, this segment offers much opportunity in the short- to medium-term, the study said.

US imports of made-ups increased from $2.2 billion in 1998 to $3.9 billion in 2003. Pillowcases constituted the largest segment (53 per cent) of the total US made-ups imports, followed by towels, terry and other piles (18.3 per cent) and sheets (13 per cent).

In made-ups, China's share in the US market stood at 30 per cent, India's at 18 per cent while Pakistan accounted for 15 per cent.

In the cotton fabric segment, US imports were at $2.3-2.5 billion in the 1998-2003 period. Knit fabric was the largest component of this market in 2003, accounting for 33.5 per cent followed by pile and tufted fabric at 13.5 per cent. India's exports to the US declined from $169.6 million in 1998 to $83.7 million in 2003.