Nepal's garment industry suffers slowdown
Friday, 24 April 2009
KATHMANDU, Apr 23 (Xinhua): As the global financial crisis casts its shadow on consumer spending, international garment importers have shrunk the import lead prices offered to exporters by 15 per cent. This has landed a hard blow to the already suffering Nepali readymade garments industry, local media reported today.
The vice president of the Garment Association of Nepal (GAN), Uday Raj Pandey, was quoted by myrepublica.com as saying that this change in the market has directly hit the profit margins of the exporters, and some exporter of certain product lines have even been forced to reject orders.
Amid this gloom, the export of readymade garments to the United States, the largest apparel market in the world, has recorded a whopping 59 per cent decline in the first quarter of 2009.
Statistics issued by GAN shows that Nepal's apparel exports to the U.S. dropped to 2.30 million U.S. dollars over the first three months this year, in the same period last year, apparel export from Nepal to the U.S. was valued at 5.65 million dollars.
A monthwise breakdown of exports shows that exports dropped the most in January 2009, by 73 per cent, in comparison to the same month last year. During the month, export was valued at 706,000 dollars, in January, 2008, it stood at 2.65 million dollars.
The vice president of the Garment Association of Nepal (GAN), Uday Raj Pandey, was quoted by myrepublica.com as saying that this change in the market has directly hit the profit margins of the exporters, and some exporter of certain product lines have even been forced to reject orders.
Amid this gloom, the export of readymade garments to the United States, the largest apparel market in the world, has recorded a whopping 59 per cent decline in the first quarter of 2009.
Statistics issued by GAN shows that Nepal's apparel exports to the U.S. dropped to 2.30 million U.S. dollars over the first three months this year, in the same period last year, apparel export from Nepal to the U.S. was valued at 5.65 million dollars.
A monthwise breakdown of exports shows that exports dropped the most in January 2009, by 73 per cent, in comparison to the same month last year. During the month, export was valued at 706,000 dollars, in January, 2008, it stood at 2.65 million dollars.