According to Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India), the country has increased its apparel imports by 11.29 per cent to US $ 421.16 million in H1 ’21 period.
The fall in woven clothing imports has continued as the segment declined by 11.94 per cent and the imports valued US $ 220.62 million in the first 6-month period of 2021.
On the other hand, knitted clothing has witnessed a significant increase of 56.81 per cent on Y-o-Y basis to value US $ 200.54 million in H1 ’21.
The data analysed by Apparel Resources also indicates that China faced serious dent in its apparel shipment to India as the latter imported US $ 92.86 million worth of garments from the former, falling 36.55 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.
Bangladesh remained the preferred importing destination for the Indian buyers as US $ 172.66 million worth of apparels were imported from the neighbouring country in Jan.-Jun. ’21 period, noting 55.84 per cent Y-o-Y growth.
It’s worth noting that, in H1 ’20, China’s apparel shipment to India was US $ 146.25 million, while the same in case of Bangladesh was just US $ 110.79 million. The scenario is completely different now in 2021 and, going forward, the Bangladesh’s suppliers may remain positive in H2 ’21 as well.