Apparel sourcing in 2020 started with similar theme of volatility and rapid change amongst major suppliers for US brands and retailers, new patterns are now emerging as the year progresses.

China’s supremacy challenged by smaller countries

One of the most notable changes is the fading of China’s unchallenged dominance as a global apparel supplier. The country’s top spot is being challenged by smaller rivals like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia whose shipments rose dramatically at the beginning of the year. According to an OTEXA report, skewed by a combination of the end-of-month Lunar New Year factory closing and the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic US apparel imports from China dropped 36.09 per cent in January to $1.62 billion. As a result, the share of Chinese imports declined to 28.9 per cent compared to 33 per cent a year earlier.

Tim Boyle, Chairman, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear, feels this was due to temporary factory closures and the pace of workers returning to work which impacted the ability of the company’s contract manufacturers to source certain raw materials and to produce and fulfill finished goods as expected.

Apparel imports from Vietnam increased by 4.12 per cent in January to $1.32 billion, reveals OTEXA data. Market share rose to 16.4 per cent for the year ending Jan. 31 compared to 14.8 percent share a year earlier. Bangladesh started the year with a 17.03 per cent increase in shipments to reach $622 million in value. On the other hand, Cambodia’s imports jumped 19.91 percent to $277 million.

Indonesia’s shipments rose 1.45 per cent to $413 million, while share of India’s imports which had reached 4.84 per cent in 2019, declined by 2.81 per cent in January 2020 and was worth $371 million.

Mixed results from countries in Western hemisphere

Countries in Western hemisphere like Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador registered mixed results. Imports from Honduras increased by 0.87 per cent to $154 million while those from Mexico declined by 14.79 percent to $205 million. El Salvador’s imports also declined 3.08 percent to $118 million while those from Pakistan increased by 0.36 percent to 131 million.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed the US monthly international trade deficit decreased to $45.3 billion in January from a revised $48.6 billion in December. The goods’ deficit also decreased to $67 billion. Of this, the goods deficit with China decreased by $2.1 billion to $23.7 billion in January.