Trends in EU Textile and Clothing Imports, July 2011 edition by Guillaume Brocklehurst, editor at Textiles Intelligence Ltd www.textilesintelligence.

com SUMMARY This report examines trends in EU imports and import prices for textiles and clothing as a whole and for 15 major product categories, namely cotton yarn, fabrics woven from synthetic staple fibres, fabrics woven from synthetic filament yarn, T-shirts, pullovers, mens trousers, womens trousers, mens denim trousers, womens denim trousers, womens blouses, mens shirts, womens overcoats, womens dresses, womens skirts, and womens suits. In 2010 EU textile and clothing imports rose by 11.9% to Euro83.90 bn (US$111.14 bn) a record highafter a 6.9% fall in 2009. Textile imports were up by 25.6% in value and 14.6% in volume. Clothing imports rose in value by 7.6%, again to a new peak, but in volume they edged up by only 1.7%. There was also a rise in the average price of textile and clothing imports in 2010 reflecting increases in the average price of textiles as well as the average price of clothing. However, the price increases may have been due partly to movements in the value of the euro. This depreciated against the US dollar by 4.7% in 2010, having depreciated by 5.0% in the previous year. Seven of the EUs ten largest textile and clothing supplying countries raised their average prices in 2010. Among these countries, suppliers in Pakistan raised their average price by a sharp 14.9%, while suppliers in Vietnam and Bangladesh raised their average prices by 9.8% and 7.5% respectively. By contrast, suppliers in Tunisia and Morocco cut their prices, although they remained by far the most expensive. In the first three months of 2011, imports were up by as much as 24.0% in value and by 6.5% in volume compared with the corresponding period a year earlier. The rise reflected increases in both textile imports and clothing imports. Textile imports grew by a sharp 33.5% in value and 8.8% in volume while clothing imports were up by 20.7% in value and 3.3% in volume. There were also further price rises in the first three months of 2011. In the case of textiles, the average import price grew by as much as 22.7% while in clothing the average import price rose by 16.9%. These increases were probably due largely to the recent surge in raw material costs. www.textilesintelligence.com