During January to April 2017cotton imports by the US surged marginally in volume terms by 0.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Total cotton imports include imports of cotton yarn, cotton fabrics, cotton made-ups and cotton apparels.

Cotton fabrics and cotton made-ups recorded a boost by 3.8 per cent and four per cent in volume terms. Imports of cotton yarns and cotton apparels fell six per cent and two per cent in volume terms.

In April, only cotton made-ups recorded a growth in volume-wise imports of 2.5 per cent whereas imports of cotton yarns, cotton fabrics and cotton apparels were down by 5.7 per cent, 5.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent when compared with April 2016.

India’s apparel exports to the US fell by four per cent year-on-year in April 2017. Among the top four apparel exporting countries to the US, only China and Vietnam registered a growth in apparel exports. China, the leading exporter of apparels to the US, saw an increase of 4.4 per cent in its exports. Resultantly, the country’s share in the US apparel import market rose by 150 basis points to 29.9 per cent.

Apparel exports of Vietnam to the US rose by 11.4 per cent. The country’s market share expanded by 170 basis points to 15.2 per cent. On the contrary, apparel exports of Bangladesh and Indonesia fell by 7.6 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. The market share of Bangladesh contracted by 50 basis points to 6.6 per cent and that of Indonesia shrunk by 20 basis points to 6.5 per cent.