The apparel industry is expecting a revival in India’s exports. Readymade garment exports fell by 2.44 per cent in August 2019 compared to the same month last year and fell again by 2.17 per cent in September 2019. As a result, cumulative garment exports during April to September 2019-20 registered a marginal growth of 2.06 per cent. Further, apparel exports to the US declined 13 per cent in April-August 2019 as compared to that in April-August 2018. Exports to other major markets including Germany, UAE, Spain, France and UK have also declined.

However, given India’s strength in predominantly cotton fabric based garments, spring and summer shipments in the remaining two quarters of October-December 2019 and January-March 2020 are likely to see an uptick. Since spring and summer happen to be India’s strength this could lead to some growth in the remaining two quarters. As such, the remaining two quarters tend to perform better than the first two. At this time order bookings are really good, with a lot of exporters, especially medium players, totally booked. However, compared with last year, the overall buying is expected to be a bit low.

Growth in Q3 is expected to be around four per cent or five per cent, similar to last year.