What is the actual quantity of denim fabrics consumed in USA? We have seen previously the reports on Per capita consumption of jeans in USA, imports of denim jeans into US and imports of women’s denim jeans.
But what exactly is the denim fabric used for production of various denim items in US ?. We can arrive at this figure only if we know the actual production of denim fabrics , imports and exports of denim fabrics. It would give us the net amount of denim fabric that has been used in US for various purposes . Lets have a look at this chart which gives the figures for the year 2008 . The figures for 2009 would be available shortly.
Production,Imports And Exports of Denim Fabrics In USA
| Production (mill. sq. mtrs) | Production (mill. linear mtrs) |
Imports (mill. sq. mtrs) | Imports (mill. linear mtrs) | Exports(mill. sq. mtrs) | Exports(mill. linear mtrs) |
| 141.66 | 88.53 | 40.61 | 25.38 | 125.57 | 78.48 |
Note: Linear meters are taken at an average of 160cm
The actual production figures for denim fabrics show the extent to which the denim fabric production has gone down in US. There were times when over 500 million mtrs of denim used to be produced annually .But this fall is only to be expected since the costs of production in Asia are much lower and US mills find it difficult to compete with them.
We arrive below at the consumption figures for denim fabrics in USA.
Consumtion Of Denim Fabrics In USA In 2008
(In Million Linear Mtrs.)
| Production | 88.53 million mtrs |
| Imports | 25.38 million mtrs |
| Total | 113.91 million mtrs |
| Less Exports | 78.48 million mtrs |
| Consumption In USA | 35.43 million mtrs |
Thus we can see that about 35 million mtrs was actually consumed in US in 2008 for various purposes . Though the figure seems small, it is not insignificant once we consider the costs of denim jeans production in USA.
