Trade fair reports garment deals dip
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-31 20:59

Garment deals at China's biggest trade fair dropped by about 10 percent from the previous fair, with sales to the United States falling by 44 percent given uncertainties over export quotas, the government reported Monday.

The China Export Commodities Fair, held twice a year in the southern city of Guangzhou, ended Sunday with US$2.46 billion in garment deals, down 10.1 percent from the spring session held in April, and down nearly 14 percent from last year's autumn fair, according to a report on the Ministry of Commerce Web site.

Contracts for clothing exports to the U.S. totaled US$310 million (euro255.4 million), down 44 percent from the spring fair. Export deals to European countries fell 6.9 percent from the spring fair, to US$1 billion (euro820 million), the report said.

Trade disputes over the volume of Chinese exports to the U.S. and European markets left participants cautious, it said.

The fair's organizers reported that overall, sales of both garments and textiles fell by 3.35 percent from April's fair to US$4.5 billion (euro3.71 billion).

Both the United States and Europe have accused China of flooding their markets with low-cost textiles after worldwide import quotas for textile products ended on Jan. 1.

In September, the EU renegotiated import limits with China, and Beijing committed to block further exports of sweaters, trousers or bras this year. But a fourth round of U.S.-Chinese talks on the textile dispute ended without agreement in mid-October.

According to a report issued last week by the International Labor Organization, China's total textile and clothing exports rose in value by 18 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year, to US$31.2 billion. It said China's textile and exports in 2004 totaled US$61.6 billion.

Industry analysts expect China's textile exports to be about US$2.5 billion (euro2 billion) lower this year than they would have been if not hit with new quotas and a 2.1 percent revaluation of the Chinese currency, state media reported Monday.

The report, which did not give an estimate for total textile exports for this year, noted that China's textile, garment, shoe and hat manufacturers depend on overseas sales for just more than half of their earnings.

Average profit margins slipped to 5 percent from 7 percent following a 2.1 percent revaluation of the Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar in July, it said. The yuan has continued to gain in value since then, but only by about 0.3 percent.