Tag: denim imports usa

Denim Exports To USA By Vietnam Grow Sharply | 2014-18

Vietnam , one of the most favourable country these days when it comes to Textile & Garments including Denim. A Country which holds 10 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, including ASEAN Free Trade Area, five ASEAN+1 FTAs, and FTAs with Japan, South Korea, Chile , Russia and the Eurasia Economic Union and a country which is expected to execute CPTPP & EVFTA by the end of this year. Vietnam has evolved as a major denim player in past few years and expected to grow faster in coming years due to its geography and advantages due to its demographics and policies. Statistics shows that by the end of 2017, Vietnam had attracted 2,079 projects in the garment-textile sector with total capital of 15.75 billion USD, up 10 percent year-on-year.Â Investors come from 57 countries and territories nationwide, with major ones from Taiwan and Hong Kong (China) and the Republic of Korea (RoK). Growth of exports of denim from Vietnam was over 25% in 2017 !

In the first six months of this year, reports have confirmed that the investment worth 2.8 billion USD in FDI was injected into Vietnamâ€™s garment-textile industry . The Chief of Vietnam Textile And Apparel Association (VITAS) asserted that Vietnamâ€™s garment-textile export revenue is going to hit 200 billion USD by 2035.Â Denim is also major part in the entire periphery of Textile & Garment and is expected to achieve an annual growth rate of 30% so far as US export is concerned . The country is also getting strong hold in EU market and post the implementation of EVFTA , the country will become stronger.

After the tariff war between US and China , a substantial production shift in Vietnam is expected and if the trade war remains for longer time , Chinaâ€™s loss will be Vietnamâ€™s gain. In this report , weâ€™ve analysed the denim exports of Vietnam to US from 2014 to June 2018 and it gives an idea how the country is growing rapidly.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table Showing Export Of All Denim Apparel To USA ( Million Pcs)Â For 2014-18

Graph Showing Export Of All Denim Apparel To USA ( Million Pcs)Â For 2014-18

Table Showing Average Price Of All Denim Apparel To USA ( USD/Pc) For 2014-18

Graph Showing Average Price Of All Denim Apparel To USA ( USD/Pc) For 2014-18

Table Showing Gowth Rate Of Denim Exports To USA From 2014 To 2018

Graph Showing Gowth Rate Of Denim Exports To USA From 2014 To 2018

Table Showing Comparision Between Mens and Womens Denim Exports To USA ( Million Pcs) For 2014-18

Graph Showing Comparision Between Mens and Womens Denim Exports To USA ( Million Pcs) For 2014-18

Table Showing Average Price of Mens and Womens Denim Exports To USA ( USD/Pc) For 2014-18

Graph Showing Average Price of Mens and Womens Denim Exports To USA ( USD/Pc) For 2014-18

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Export Of All Denim Apparel To USA ( Million Pcs)Â For 2014-18

Vietnam has been on growing track since 2014 and post 2016 , it has been growing by leaps and bounds. In the year 2014 , the total export of denim to USA was 18.95 million pcs which grew by 1% in 2015 and reached upto 19.13 million pcs. 2016 was the year which saw a first major jump in terms of growth percentage i.e, 8% and the export figures were reached at 20.65 million pcs . The growth rate has been multiplied and was close to three times to 25%+ in 2017 . The total export of denim in 2017 reached at 25.37 million pcs . The first half of 2018 has shown a very encouraging figure of 16.66 million pcs and if the country keeps the same pace , the export figures are expected to cross the benchmark of 32 million pcs for year 2018 . The growth rate could be seen in table #3 .

Year	Denim Apparels ( Million Pcs)
2014	18.95
2015	19.13
2016	20.65
2017	25.37
2018( Till Juneâ€™18)	16.66
2018*( Projected)	32.64*

Average Price Of All Denim Apparel To USA ( USD/Pc) For 2014-18

The average price shown an inconsistent trend over the years and has been changing each year. However years 2015,2016 and 2017 look little consistent as there were very minor variances observed in these years. In 2015 ,2016 & 2017 , the average price were USD8.48/Pc, USD8.57/Pc and USD8.39/Pc respectively. In 2018 , the price has increased by approx. USD 1 and reached to USD9.32/Pc which is close to the average price of the year 2014. Vietnam needs to become more competitive in terms of price as countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh have been offering the denim apparel at a very competitive price . However, we need to also remember that Vietnam is offering more value added products than these countries.

Year	Average Price ( USD/Pc)
2014	9
2015	8.48
2016	8.57
2017	8.39
2018	9.32

Growth Rate Of Denim Exports To USA From 2014 To 2018

Year	Growth ( %)
2015	1%
2016	8%
2017	23%
2018*	31%

Comparison Between Men’s and Women’s Denim Exports To USA ( Million Pcs) For 2014-18

We can immediately understand that Vietnam is more into exports of Women’s Denim Garment than Men’s. In 2014 , the ratio of Mens: Womens was 41:59 however year after year , the ratio inclined towards Women Denim Export. In the 1st half of 2018 , the share of Men’s denim in total export is only 28% however Womens denim accounts for 72% in the total export.Â So far as the average price of both the categories are concerned , Women Denim is cheaper than Men’s. In 2018 , the men’s denim average price was USD9.68/Pc however Women’s Denim was USD9.2/Pc.

Year	Mens Denim ( Million Pcs)	Womens Denim ( Million Pcs)
2014	7.7	11.24
2015	5.75	13.38
2016	6.32	14.16
2017	8.52	16.73
2018	4.61	11.71
2018*	9.22	23.42

Average Price of Men’s and Women’s Denim Exports To USA ( USD/Pc) For 2014-18

Year	Mens Denim ( USD/Pc)	Womens Denim ( USD/Pc)
2014	9.17	8.8
2015	9.02	8.25
2016	8.99	8.39
2017	8.6	8.28
2018	9.68	9.2

There is lot to come for Vietnam , recently Chinese Denim Companies PROSPERITY got the final nod for their factory in Vietnam . The Investment has been constantly flowing into Vietnam from Hongkong , South Korea and Canada. Korean company TCE is in process of expanding three times the size. The country needs to strengthen its capacity not in terms of finished goods but also in terms of raw material as well . Hopefully after the implementation of CPTPP and EVFTA , we will see a huge expected jump in the investment and exports from Vietnam.

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October 1, 2018

US Denim Import 2012-2015

The US market has not been very strong for the last few years. The last it saw a good â€˜Denim â€˜year was in 2013 when it imported over 500 million pcs of denim apparel. It continued to remain soft in 2015 without showing too much growth. We take a detailed look at this market and cover the following in this report:

S.No	Particulars
1	Table showing Imports of all denim apparels into USA from world ( 2012-15)
2	Graph showing Imports of all denim apparels into USA from world ( 2012-15)
3	Table showing Average price of imports of all denim apparels into USA from world (2012-15)
4	Graph showing Average price of imports of all denim apparels into USA from world (2012-15)
5	Table Showing Imports of Menâ€™s Jeans into USA from world (2012-15) with average price of imports of Menâ€™s Jeans into USA from world (2012-15)
6	Graph Showing Imports of Menâ€™s Jeans into USA from world (2012-15)
7	Graph Showing average price of imports of Menâ€™s Jeans into USA from world (2012-15)
8	Table showing Imports of Womenâ€™s Jeans into USA from world (2012-15) with average price of Imports of Womenâ€™s Jeans in to USA from world (2012-15)
9	Graph showing Imports of Womenâ€™s Jeans into USA from world (2012-15)
10	Graph showing average price of Imports of Womenâ€™s Jeans in to USA from world (2012-15)
11	Table showing top exporting countries to USA in the year 2015 with average price (US$/Pcs)
12	Pie Chart showing top exporting countries to USA in the year 2015
13	Graph showing average price (US$/Pcs) of top exporting countries to USA in the year 2015
14	Table showing % change in the imports from the year 2014 to 2015
15	Table showing Top Exporting Continents of all denim apparels to USA in the year 2015
16	Pie Chart showing Top Exporting Continents of all denim apparels to USA in the year 2015

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If we look at the figures below, we will find that US market has actually declined marginally in terms of denim apparel imports. From 474 million pcs in 2014 it went down to 469 million pcs. These are figures that the denim market will not be too enthused about!

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015
Pcs (million)	493.77	515.03	474.06	469.98

The average price also seems be on declining trend which is probably a good sign for the market. In the year 2012 the average price was US$ 8.14 per pc while in 2015 it reduced to US$ 7.99 per pc. However, this can be termed as a marginal change over 2014.

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015
Average Price (US$/pc)	8.14	8.1	8.03	7.99

Menâ€™s Jeans

In the year 2012 the imports of Men Jeans from the world to USA was 263.76 million Pcs with an average price of US$8.33 which reduced to US$8.16 with an import of 269.38 million pcs in 2013. In the year 2014 and 2015 the import figure saw a decline both in quantity as well as in average prices. In 2014 where import quantity was 256.24 million pcs, while in 2015 it reduced to 250.02 million pcs. So the actual imports of menâ€™s jeans declined by over 3% since 2014 and over 7% since 2013.

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015
Average Price (US$/pc)	8.14	8.1	8.03	7.99
Year	2012	2013	2014	2015
Average Price (US$/pc)	8.33	8.16	8.15	8.1

Womenâ€™s Jeans

The import of womenâ€™s jeans also peaked out in 2013 when the country imported bout 245 million pcs. In 2014 the imports were 217 million pcs which was a whopping reduction of over 11%! 2015 however saw a marginal increase of about 1% – which cannot be said to be a very encouraging figure. The average price is almost stable from US$ 7.89 in 2014 to US$ 7.87 in 2015. The prices, we can say, are more or less stable sine 2012 â€“ a sign that the country is able to manage to balance its import prices from around the world.

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015
Pcs (million)	230.01	245.65	217.82	219.96
Year	2012	2013	2014	2015
Average Price (US$/pc)	7.93	8.04	7.89	7.87

So far as the top exporting countries are concerned, China is still leading the charts with whopping 133.13 million pcs in 2015 while Mexico ranks second with 110.02 million pcs. China is able to give an average price of about US$ 7.52 while Mexicoâ€™s average price is US$8.74. However, considering that there is no import duty on imports of garments from Mexico (made with US fabrics); the price will come out more or less same. But China gives much more fashionable products to US than Mexico â€“ which is focused on basics. Bangladesh ranks 3rd with the lowest average price per jeans which is merely US$6.53. Pakistan comes 4^the with a total of about 21 million pcs and Vietnam is at 5th with total export quantity of 19.13 million pcs at an average price of US$8.48. It needs to be seen where the share of China will spill off once the country is not able to export as much it used to.

EXPORTING	ALL DENIM APPAREL	AVERAGE PRICE
COUNTRY	(MILLION PCS)	(US$/PC)
CHINA	133.13	7.52
MEXICO	110.02	8.74
BANGLADESH	67.02	6.53
PAKISTAN	21.86	8.1
VIETNAM	19.13	8.48
EGYPT	17.59	8.99
CAMBODIA	15	7.82
INDONESIA	13.62	7.94

% Change in the imports from the year 2014 to 2015

Exporting	All Denim Apparels (2015)	All Denim Apparels (2014)	% Change
Countries	Million Pcs	Million Pcs
CHINA	133.13	135.37	-1.68%
MEXICO	110.02	116.12	-5.54%
BANGLADESH	67.02	67.58	-0.84%
PAKISTAN	21.86	21.06	3.66%
VIETNAM	19.13	18.95	0.94%
EGYPT	17.59	18.66	-6.08%
CAMBODIA	15	15.29	-1.93%
INDONESIA	13.62	9.01	33.85%

Exporting Regions :

There are many regions and blocs which can be studied as a group to analyse which region is more important for exporting denim to US. Some of the main regions are Latin America, Asean, Agoa , Cafta etc. We analyse the figures from these countries as below.

Latin America is the highest contributor in the total import to the USA with total import quantity of 135.91 million pcs followed by ASEAN, AGOA and CAFTA with 48.74, 22.27 and 20.7 million pcs. Latin America â€“ the main component is Mexico which takes the lionâ€™s share of its exports. Among ASEAN countries, Vietnam is very important. AGOA still remains a small quantity and has not evolved over time despite duty benefits.

EXPORTING REGION	ALL DENIM APPAREL(million pcs)
LATIN AMERICA	135.91
ASEAN	48.74
AGOA	22.27
CAFTA	20.7

On the whole, not a very good year for denim apparel imports for the US market. It is still sluggish but there are hopes that 2016 will be better.

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April 13, 2016

4.6% Growth In Import Of Denim Jeans Into USA In 2010 Over 2009

The denim apparel imports into USA has increased by a marginal 4.6% in 2010 over the volumes of 2009 . This is quite surprising as the increase in imports during the first 6 months of the year was 12.6% and as I mentioned in a previous report. This actually means that the imports in the second half of the year have actually dropped in second half. Letâ€™s see from the table below :

Imports Of All Denim Apparel Into US 2009-2010

Period	2009 million pcs	2010 million pcs	% change
Ist Half	238	268	+12.6%
2nd Half	346	343	-.87%
Total	584	611	+4.6%

From the table above, we can clearly see that the volumes of denim apparel import into US have actually shown a declining trend in the second half of the year 2010 . This declining trend actually set in the last quarter of 2010. The imports in the

last quarter of 2009 were 157 million pcs
last quarter of 2010 were 148 million pcs .

That means that in the last quarter itself, the fall in imports is to the tune of 6.8% â€“ a very large fall . If this trend of falling imports continues in the first half of 2011 , then we are looking at a very negative story on denim consumption in US . But since only one quarter in 2010 has shown a negative story, there is still hope and maybe the first quarter of 2011 will make the things more clear ..

There can be many possible reasons why this fall is happening . One of the main reasons could be the increase in prices of denim due to rising cotton prices, which is making the highest impact on Denim as denim is almost the heaviest product using cotton. It would be interesting to study whether the sales of all clothing has also shown a similar downward trend during 2010. Though , there is a time lag between the imports of a product and its actual sales at retail stores, the imports also are indicative of the sentiments of retailers which are based on their sales forecasts which depend on actual sales happening in the stores.

The following table shows the total sales in clothing stores in US during 2009 and 2010

Total Clothing Sales in US â€“ Last Quarter of 2009 and 2010

Period	2009 $billion	2010 $ billion	Change
Jan â€“ Dec	$152.21	$158.91	+4.4%
Oct â€“ Dec	$45.93	$48.42	+5%

Though these figures are for values (USD) , they clearly show that the sales of all clothing stores put together have actually shown a very positive increase during the year with about 4.4% increase in the year and about 5% increase in the last quarter itself.

The denim imported in the last quarter of 2010 would be retailed in the first quarter (mostly) and the actual retail sales of clothing stores in the first quarter of 2010 would indicate whether it is only denim which is losing steam or not.. Lets keep our fingers crossed..

February 18, 2011

6.3 % Rise In Women’s Jeans Imports In USA During Jan- June 2009

Its great to see some positive news in these recessionary times. And here is one very good news on the imports of Womenâ€™s/Girls Denim Jeans into USA â€“ a 6.3% increase in the first six months over the same period last year. This also corroborates the 2.3% increase in sales of Denim Jeans in USA in the first 4 months of the year 2009 and indicates that this whole year is going to be good for denim. Checkout the figures for imports given below and see the change in share of different countries.

Countrywise Imports of Womenâ€™s Denim Jeans into USA

During 2008 and 2009(Jan- June period)

Country	Jan-June 2008 (million pieces)	Jan-June 2009 (million pieces)	% change
China	21.3	41.95	+96.95% !!
Mexico	12.5	10.82	-13.1%
Hong Kong	11.6	1.2	-89.66%
Bangladesh	7.0	7.98	+13.67%
Cambodia	6.6	5.23	-20.58%
Egypt	6.4	6.82	+6.95%
Macao	5.7	0.92	–83.91%
Nicaragua	4.9	2.82	-42.68%
Vietnam	4.3	7.78	+80.77%
Jordan	2.9	3.76	+29.21%
Pakistan	2.7	2.94	+8.4%
Sri Lanka	2.4	2.64	+12.24%
Indonesia	2.3	2.43	+6.8%
Madagascar	2.1	2.1	No Change
Lesotho	1.9	2.44	+27.5%
Kenya	1.3	2.50	+95%
India	1.4	1.34	-3.4%
Phillipines	0.8	0.6	-25%
Taiwan	0.6	0.06	-90%
Turkmenistan	0.4	0.61	+50%
Mauritius	0.3	0.57	+90%
Others	5.82	4.37	-24.91%
Total	105.22	111.88	+6.32%

There are some interesting things to note from the above figures:

China has seen a stumpendous increase in exports of Womenâ€™s/Girlsâ€™ Denim Jeans exports to USA and has almost doubled the same within a year. However, these figures have to be seen alongwith the figures of exports of Hongkong which has almost lost 90% of its exports. This clearly means that the denim jeans that were last year being exported from Hongkong are now being exported through China. Inspite of this , the increase in Chinaâ€™s exports of Jeans has been phenomenal.. Has it got something to do with recession and a preference for cheaper products??
Most of the South American countries like Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala have been continously losing share of these exports (womensâ€™ denim). However, the South East Asian /South Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh ,Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been improving their share. Vietnamâ€™s performance has been ,in particular , hs been very impressive in this category of denim jeans.
It is interesting to see that Jordan and Egypt both have increased their share. It shows that currently Egypt is not proving as much a threat to Jordanâ€™s exports (in this category) as had been feared.
It is however, to be noted that the exports of denim jeans (menâ€™s as well as womenâ€™s ) peak during the second half of the year. The figures for many countries could change during this half and show some reversal in trends. But the overall undertone for denim is strongly positive and shows that sales of denim jeans is nowhere affected by the recessionary times.

I shall shortly post a report on the imports of Mensâ€™/Boysâ€™ Denim Jeans into USA in 2009 and I hope that it shall show similar positive trends..

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August 15, 2009