Garment exports up 5% to $1.39B in 1st semester

Garment exports managed to rise by 5.07 percent to $1.391 billion in the first six months of the year from $1.324 billion in the same period last year, the Garments and Textile Export Board( GTEB) reported yesterday.

Exports quota to countries posted a stronger increase of 6.15 percent to reach $1.228 billion during the six-month period compared to only $1.156 billion a year ago.

Exports to quota countries accounted for 88.27 percent of total shipments during the review period.

Quota exports to the US accounted for 73.2 percent of total exports at $1.018 billion.

However, the growth of exports to the US during the first half of the year was only 4.53 percent as exports from January to June last year amounted to $974.28 million.

Quota exports to the European Economic Community (EEC) accounted for only 12.58 percent of total exports at $175.069 million during the first six months of the year.

The increase in exports to the EEC, on the other hand, posted a growth of 14.68 percent compared to the $152.661 million exported in the first half of 2002.

Shipments to Canada valued at $34.6 million accounted for only 2.49 percent of the country’s total exports. The figure, however, posted a growth of 15.3 percent compared to last year’s $30.009 billion.

Exports to non-quota countries, on the other hand, went down by 2.37 percent to $163.215 million during the first six months compared to the $167.18 million recorded a year ago.

Garments and textiles exports are classified into apparel, non-apparel and textiles.

Total apparel exports amounted to $1.202 billion for the period in review, while non-apparel exports amounted to $118.381 million. Textile exports alone amounted to $70.025 million from January to June this year.