Local garment cos move East, get a toehold in Japan
Economic Times, IndiaÂ
AHMEDABAD/MUMBAI: Domestic textile companies may have been busy draping the large and lucrative western world all these years. But now they are stitching together a new script for the East.
After countries such as the US and UK, Japan is the newest darling for Indian companies as it is fast emerging as a good market. Traditionally, China holds almost 80% of the share of the garment imports. However, it did not see any change in the growth rate, which has remained stagnant at 13% over the past two years
However, Indian companies are penetrating the new market. Big players such as Raymond and Arvind Mills are already very optimistic about Japan.
According to Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) data, Japan is firmly increasing its share of garment imports from India. Sample this: In ‘04, India’s clothing exports to Japan grew by 15%, compared with 10% the previous year, which translates into $110m. However, only 0.5% of the share of the total imports into Japan is from India.
But it was ready-made garments that drove the exports, which grew by 28.2% as against the previous year. As per the data available at Economic Research & Market Intelligence Unit of Textile Commissioner’s office, the exports to Japan has increased. As compared to ‘02-03, when the exports stood at $65.4m, the figure reached $79.5m in ‘04-05. More, the performance is even better in FY06.
Between April-September ‘05-06 the exports stood at $51.5m as against $40.2m for the corresponding period the year before.While the quantum of exports is still small, a number of Japanese companies are beginning to look at India as they do not want all their eggs in one basket. “Companies in Japan are realising that too much of dependence on one country alone may not augur well. May be that’s why they are exploring newer markets,†said an analyst.
For instance, the garment factory of textile major Raymond in Bangalore has 50% of its orders booked by a Japanese company, for the next three years. While India is strong in yarn and fabric exports, the garment sector has been untapped, especially in Japan, which is one of the larger market for the ready-to-wear segment. Jayesh Shah, director and CFO of Arvind Mills told ET that the company was looking at Japan. “It’s a growing market,†he said.
The US and EU, however, still remain India’s traditional export market and exports to these regions have risen by 27% and 20%, respectively.