The imports of textiles and apparels by the US increased in January 2013, with Vietnam and Bangladesh turning out to be the fastest growing suppliers to the western nation.
The overall textile and apparel imports by the US grew by 3.7 percent year-on-year to 4.611 billion square metre equivalents (SME) in January, according to the figures released by the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA).
Value-wise, US textile and garment imports during the month were worth US$ 8.652 billion.
The supply of textiles and apparels by Vietnam to the US rose by 22.7 percent year-on-year to 315 million SME, while that of Bangladesh by 11 percent year-on-year to 181 million SME.
While textiles and clothing from Vietnam were worth US$ 732 million, those from Bangladesh accounted for US$ 474.78 million.
US textile and garment imports from Indonesia and Pakistan too jumped by 9.9 percent year-on-year and nearly six percent year-on-year to 169 million SME and 214 million SME, respectively.
However, China continued to be the biggest supplier of textiles and apparel to the US worth US$ 3.482 billion, and accounting for 2.17 billion SME in terms of volume.
Region-wise, Asean topped the list with supply of 684.65 million SME of textiles and apparel worth US$ 1.75 billion to the US, during the first month of the current year.
The Western Hemisphere supplied 487.56 million SME of textiles and clothing worth US$ 1.052 billion to the US during the period under review.
Segment-wise, total textile imports by the US were 2.54 billion SME, up 3.3 percent year-on-year, whereas overall garment imports were 2.07 billion SME, up 4.26 percent year-on-year.
In terms of value, the textile imports cost US$ 2.025 billion to the US, while the apparel imports accounted for another US$ 6.63 billion.
