Apparel exporters pin hopes on medical textiles

Notwithstanding the yearonyear decline in exports till now, apparel exporters are confident of clocking a positive growth at the end of the fiscal. They are banking on the increased demand for medical textiles across the globe.

Apparel exports have been down by 54 per cent between April and July. Compared to $ 5,500 million exports during the period last year, shipments are down at $ 2,500 million during the four- month period this year.

However, on a month- onmonth basis, apparel exports have been seeing some recovery. In July, apparel clocked exports of $ 1063 million against $ 1364 million in the same month last year— down by 22 per cent. This gap was 90 per cent in April.

The industry is banking on the fact that it is the second largest producer of medical textiles.

“In a span of few months, we have become the second largest producer of medical textiles, including masks and personal protective equipment ( PPE),’ said Apparel Export Promotion Council ( AEPC) chairman A. Sakthivel. Going ahead, the AEPC expects medical textiles to be a key component in the export basket.

“On a month- on- month basis, by September we hope to return to last year’s level of exports,” he added.

Apart from medical textiles, AEPC also hopes to see growth in man- made fibre products. The government had recently lifted the anti- dumping duty on polyester staple fibre and this is expected to boost production of MMF products.

“The council has already requested the government for a Free Trade Agreement with the US,” said Shaktivel.

Besides, the AEPC has sought a review of the trade pacts with the EU, UK, US, Australia and Canada to remove the disadvantages.