Garment exports down 7%

The country’s exports earnings from garments and textiles, the second biggest source of dollars after electronics, fell 7.1 percent to $471 million in the first two months of 2004, the Garments and Textile Export Board (GTEB) said.

In a report, GTEB executive director Serafin Juliano said the drop in earnings was attributed to lower export volume to the US market, which accounts for the bulk or 79 percent of aggregate exports.

The US bought $373-million worth of garments and textiles from the Philippines in two months this year, down 10.5 percent from a year earlier. In February alone, shipments declined by 10.72 percent to $148 million.

Juliano said stiff competition from emerging companies in Mexico and China, as well as the continued safeguard measures by the US in anticipation of the end of the quota regime, contributed to the weak trade performance.

However, the government’s promotion arm remains optimistic that export figures will improve in the coming months as garments exports start to pick up especially this month when the summer buying season peaks and shipments for the fall season begin in the US.

"The resurgence in the US market brought about by rising consumer confidence will likely boost our garments export in the coming months," Juliano said.

Exports to Europe, meanwhile, grew significantly on the back of the steady recovery of the economies and the strengthening of the euro, the GTEB official said.

Shipments to Europe amounted to $71 million, up by 8.81 percent from a year ago. In February, exports rose by an impressive 23.88 percent to $29 million.