Due to Coronavirus pandemic, US denim imports declines 35% through May to a value of $887.74 million, according to the US Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA) while the shipment expanded over previous month. This compares with a 27.76 percent decline in overall clothing imported by brands and retailers over the same five-month period. This fall also surpassed the 23.73 percent decline for the first four months of the year. According to OTEXA report, Mexico, the top supplier for US saw the most severe decline of 53.38 percent to $153.79 million while Cambodia increase of 58.38 percent to $54.31 million in the period. Bangladesh, the second biggest supplier for US posted a 12.05 percent decrease to $161.09 million and imports from China declined by 70.63 percent to $84.46 million while only Vietnam is on the positive side, with a gain of 6.47 percent to $111.87 million in this region. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Egypt among the top 10 suppliers to US had seen export declines of 11.85 percent to $84.06 million, 11.32 percent to $18.48 million, 44.04 percent to $16.39 million and 33.09 percent to $41.58 million respectively. Shipments from Nicaragua also fell by 32.14 percent to $30.08 million. For the pandemic situation, companies were working off inventory that was already in the pipeline and more casual clothing was adopted for many people working from home. As the retailers suffered amid store closure due to the pandemic, some retailers cancelled imports order and planned to pack and hold their summer inventory till the next selling season including Gap Inc. Banana Republic and Old Navy. However, PVH managing production and stocks with vendors and investments vigorously by reducing and canceling commitments, redeploying basic inventory items in subsequent seasons, and consolidating future seasonal collections as well as negotiating increased payments with its suppliers, according to the company’s high officials.
