Export of readymade garment to US declines

The export of readymade garments to the US, one of the major market of Nepali readymade garment, continued its downward trend in the month of September as compared to same period of the last year.

According to the data released by Garment Association Nepal (GAN), the export of readymade garment to the US declined by seven percent in the month of August as compared to same period of the last year.

According to the statistics of GAN, readymade garment worth over $ 3.29 million was exported to US in September 2006 as compared to $ 3.36 million in the same month of the last year.

8267.3 kg of readymade garments were exported during the month of September as compared to 16,522.5 kg of the same period last year. Only 7,633 kg readymade garment was exported in the month of August.

The export of readymade garment saw 17 percent decline in the month of July. Likewise, the export saw 8, 13 and 59 percent declines in the months of January, March and April respectively. The export however saw 47, 33 and 28 percent increment in the months of February, May and June respectively as compared to same period of last year.

Nepali garment export has been going through a downward spiral since US pledged duty and quota-free facility to Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean countries.

The export of readymade garment to the US declined by 30 percent in 2004, while it declined by 41 percent in the year 2005.

However the GAN statistics shows that the export of readymade garment saw an impressive growth of 242.35 percent growth in the month of September 2006 as compared to same period of the last year.

The GAN statistics shows that garment worth $168,964 were imported to Canada in September as compared to $49,354.42 of the same period last year.

The export of readymade garments to Canada declined by over 52 percent in the month of August. nepalnews.com pb Oct 11 06