US apparel imports surged by 26.92% in H1'21

The US apparel market has revived in 2021 following consumers' optimism for shopping after a dreadful 2020 in both values and volumes. As per an Apparel Resources report, US' apparel imports increased by 26.92 per cent in H1' 21 to $35.38 billion from H1' 20. Volume-wise, its imports surged by 38.39 per cent Y-o-Y to 13,365.48 million SME.

The values of US' apparel imports declined by 11.63 per cent in H1' 21 to $ 40.04 billion in the first half of 2021. However, the US didn' t see any major decline in volume terms which fell marginally by just 0.23 per cent as compared to H1' 19.

The two-year comparison and the negligible shrink in the volume-wise imports indicate that US buyers are still sourcing garment products from world over in bulk quantities. On the other hand, the decline in values says the unit prices are getting tighter–particularly for basic commodities, which will increase competition for manufacturing destinations more in the coming months!

There was steep decline in unit prices of imported apparels by the US during the first half of the year. In H1' 21, UVR (Unit Value Realisation) was $2.64 per SME declined significantly from $2.88 in H1' 20 and $2.99 in H1' 19. These declining unit prices are an indication of stiff competition that apparel exporters are facing as time passes by in COVID-19 era.