Exports of T-shirts from India to USA have potential for increase in market share

India fared better in US exports in T-shirts in April 2020 than competitors
Registered growth in volumes in April 2020 as against April 2019, despite global drop in volumes to the US in the same period
Values are decreasing, need for better pricing

One of the most widely used and replenished product categories in apparel is the T-Shirt, which is worn for almost all occasions for its comfort. For India, the category is the largest export product to the US, and in the period Jan.-Apr. 2020, T-shirt witnessed export values greater than US $ 300 million despite major disruptions in the trade.

Though India has integrated capabilities in knitwear, the share of the country in the total T-shirt imports of the USA, valued at US $ 5.58 billion, was just 5.91 per cent which is very low, considering India’s overall share in the USA’s overall import value is 6.40 per cent in the period being talked about here.

Key indicators for period January-April 2020

Value-wise exports of T-shirts from India to the USA fell 14.90 per cent.
While in volume terms, shipment was worth 8.89 million dozen, a decline of 10.35 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.
Unit value per dozen was US $ 37.07 which is 5.05 per cent less than what it valued in the same period of 2019 at US $ 39.04 per dozen.
Only Indonesia was ahead of India in terms of unit values of T-shirts (per dozen) at US $ 43.72.

UVR comparison of T-shirt exports to USA from India and other Asian destinations:
(Period: January to April ’20)

S. No.	Country	UVR of T-shirt (in US $ per dozen)
1	USA (Import)	35.48
2	Vietnam	33.83
3	China	32.93
4	Indonesia	43.72
5	India	37.07
6	Bangladesh	25.52

Y-o-Y % change of T-shirt exports from top exporters to USA:
(Comparison: April ’20 and April ’19)

S. No	Country	Quantity (in mn dozen)		% Change	Value (in US $ mn)		% Change
S. No	Country	April ’19	April ’20	% Change	April ’19	April ’20	% Change
1	USA (Import)	48.21	23.72	(-) 50.80	1,668.44	867.92	(-) 47.98
2	Vietnam	6.74	5.29	(-) 21.56	267.11	214.75	(-) 19.60
3	China	6.34	2.94	(-) 53.54	225.16	89.92	(-) 60.07
4	India	2.57	2.39	(-) 7.11	99.63	69.23	(-) 30.51
5	Bangladesh	1.99	1.64	(-) 17.45	52.66	43.93	(-) 16.56

M-o-M % change in T-shirt exports from top exporters to USA:
(Comparison: April ’20 and March ’20)

S. No	Country	Quantity (in mn dozen)		% Change	Value (in US $ mn)		% Change
S. No	Country	March ’20	April ’20	% Change	March ’20	April ’20	% Change
1	USA (Import)	42.44	23.72	(-) 44.11	1,440.79	867.92	(-) 39.76
2	Vietnam	6.31	5.29	(-) 16.19	251.40	214.75	(-) 14.58
3	China	2.40	2.94	22.61	81.45	89.92	10.40
4	India	2.28	2.39	4.79	85.65	69.23	(-) 19.17
5	Bangladesh	2.47	1.64	(-) 33.65	60.44	43.93	(-) 27.31

Some interesting observations in T-shirt imports by the US for April 2020:

Import of T-shirts by the US in quantities saw a sharp dip of (-) 50.80 per cent in April 2020 as against April 2019, which in itself indicates how apparel exports have been severely affected by the pandemic.
The value impact on the US import in T-shirts has also been significant with a (-) 47.98 per cent drop in April 2020 as against April 2019.
Significantly, the major drop in imports has come in the month of April, and in just one month the volume of imports in T-shirts by the US in April from March 2020 witnessed a drop of (-) 44.11 per cent. The value drop in the same period is (-) 39.76 per cent.
For India the drop in volume of export of T-shirts to the US in April 2020, as against April 2019, was just (-) 7.11 per cent which means that the major drop seen in the US was not as impactful on India as other countries, majorly China which saw a huge drop of (-) 53.54 per cent.
From a value perspective while China saw a major (-) 60.07 per cent fall in value in April 2020 as against April 2019, India too saw a downfall of (-) 30.51 per cent in the same period comparison.
Interestingly, though the imports of T-shirts were down significantly from March 2020 to April 2020 for the US, India saw a volume increase of 4.79 per cent, though the value decreased by (-) 19.17 per cent, which clearly indicates that the unit price has taken a beating.
Bangladesh got a hit in both volume and value of exports to the US in April 2020 as against March 2020 of (-) 33.65 per cent and (-) 27.31 per cent, respectively. This obviously means that Bangladesh took a major hit, and a part of it could be because of dependency on China for raw materials, which closed down in March due to the pandemic.
The hit that Bangladesh took in April 2020 from the previous month is despite the fact that India has a higher UVR of US $ 37.07 in comparison to Bangladesh, which is among the lowest UVRs at US $ 25.52.

(The source of data is OTEXA which is further compiled and analysed by Data Analysis team of Apparel Resources under the guidance of Deepak Mohindra, Editor-in-Chief, Apparel Resources and Ila Saxena, Editor, Apparel Resources.)