The latest apparel import data released by OTEXA is in lines with the last month’s prediction of Apparel Resources. Vietnam, for the first time ever, surpassed China to become top apparel exporter to USA.
In Jan.-Mar. 2020, Vietnam shipped US $ 3.38 billion worth of apparels to USA with a growth of 4.50 per cent, while China dipped by 43.12 per cent to ship US $ 3.27 billion apparels to USA in the first quarter of 2020.
Figures suggest Vietnam managed to ship US $ 110 million more garments than China to USA in the first quarter of 2020.
During the period, Vietnam constituted 18.93 per cent in overall import value of USA as against 15.93 per cent share in the same period of 2019, while China’s share reduced to 18.32 per cent from 28.32 per cent in the same period of 2019.
The major reason of this disruption lies in the figures of March as, in this month, China tumbled massively by 52 per cent and was able to ship just US $ 572.36 million worth of apparels to USA as against US $ 1.20 billion worth of shipment in March 2019, suffering a total loss of US $ 630.75 million.
While, in March ’20, Vietnam was able to see growth of 7 per cent to ship US $ 998.19 million worth of apparels to USA as against US $ 933.29 million worth of shipment in the corresponding month of 2019.
As far as March ’20 is concerned, China’s share to USA import value remained just 11.04 per cent which stood at 19.79 per cent a year earlier.
On the other hand, Vietnam’s share increased to 19.26 per cent in March ’20 as against 15.35 per cent in March ’19.
During Jan.-Mar. ’20, the total apparel imports of USA fell by 12.07 per cent and valued at US $ 17.85 billion. Particularly in March, the import plunged by 15 per cent and valued at US $ 5.18 billion.
As Apparel Resources reported last month that COVID-19 outbreak caused the industry to remain shut till February last and only a few of the factories resumed operations in March, the setback for the country is obvious.
Even now, China seems to be having no/less orders from the US buyers due to lockdown declared in the USA in April; it is unlikely the export of China to USA will see any positive direction in at least next 2 months.
However, Vietnam is also suffering with low order quantities and many of the small factories are temporarily shutting down their operations. Amidst this, it is quite uncertain if Vietnam will be able to retain its top position in the US market.
Keep watching the space for more news and analyses on US Import Data and the performances of other countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia as well as the African countries.
