India's dwindling innerwear exports have an outside problem: Chinese raw material price surge
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: India’s dependence on Chinese raw materials for garment manufacturing, particularly in the innerwear segment, is hurting the domestic industry.
As prices of key inputs have surged, exports in this category have sharply declined over the past three years (FY22-FY24), raising concerns about the long-term impact of reliance on China, two people aware of the matter said. The rise in raw material costs by 20% to 30% for cotton yarn, spandex, synthetic fibres and elastics, many of which are sourced from China, is a major reason for the decline in exports of innerwear, said the first of the two persons cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.
This input cost surge is largely due to the ongoing supply chain disruptions, increasing global demand, and fluctuating energy prices in China, the second person said. Also Read | Centre plans to bring t-shirts, innerwear under PLI scheme for textiles According to export data, there have been sharp declines in key innerwear categories.
While men’s and boys’ innerwear exports, including underpants, briefs and pyjamas, fell by 24% from $720.86 million in FY22 to $548.28 million in FY24, exports of singlets and vests also recorded a modest drop, as per commerce ministry data, exclusively accessed by Mint. As per the data, the women’s and girls’ innerwear category faced similar hurdles, with exports of slips and nightdresses decreasing from $627.74 million in FY22 to $499.86 million in FY24, reflecting a fall of 20.37%.
Read more on livemint.com
