Indian apparel exporters are gearing up to re-negotiate terms and prices of their products with buyers in the UK to neutralise a decline in their realisations due to the sharp fall in the pound against the rupee. Exporters have started bypassing vendors in the UK for supplies to countries in the European Union. This would allow them to deal with importers there directly.

Indian exporters are also gearing up to raise prices of their apparel products in next year’s contracts to compensate for the fall in the pound. Thirdly, exporters are re-negotiating for receivables in dollars instead of pounds. They are convinced that the re-negotiated terms would protect them from any further fall in the pound without affecting their trade with the UK, which contributes nearly 11 per cent of apparel exports.

As the pound has fallen evenly against other major global currencies, exporters anticipate no problem in arriving at re-negotiated terms with importers in the UK. There has been a decline in UK’s share in India’s overall apparel exports from 11.04 per cent in 2015 to 10.62 per cent now.

Importers in the UK buy apparel from India not only for internal consumption but also for exports.