Home breadcru News breadcru Import/Exports breadcru African fabric imports dip 7.69% in Q1 2024, China leads

African fabric imports dip 7.69% in Q1 2024, China leads

01 Jul '24
2 min read
African fabric imports dip 7.69% in Q1 2024, China leads
Pic: Adobe Stock

Insights

  • African nations' fabric imports totalled $1.63 billion in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 7.69 per cent decline from Q1 2023.
  • China was the largest supplier, holding a 40.56 per cent market share, followed by Turkiye, Italy, France, and Spain.
  • In 2023, total imports were $7.08 billion.
  • After a drop to in 2020, imports rebounded to $7.08 billion in 2021.
Fabric imports by African nations were valued at $1,631.956 million during the first quarter of the current year. This was 7.69 per cent lower than the imports of $1,767.754 million in the corresponding period of 2023. The latest trade data indicated that China was the largest supplier for African nations' fabric imports, with a market share of 40.56 per cent of the total. It should be noted that African countries are taking centre stage in garment exports due to lower wage costs.

According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, imports from China were valued at $661.964 million in January-March 2024, representing 40.56 per cent of the total imports of $1,631.956 million. The second-largest supplier, far behind China, was Turkiye, which shipped fabric worth $212.185 million in the same period of this year. Among other top five suppliers, imports from Italy were valued at $164.085 million (10.05 per cent), from France $141.879 million (8.69 per cent), and from Spain $95.449 million (5.85 per cent). Among the top ten suppliers, other nations included Portugal, India, Germany, South Korea, and Pakistan.

Last year, African nations imported fabric worth $7,078.493 million. Inbound shipments from China were valued at $3,111.905 million (43.96 per cent), Italy $759.985 million (10.74 per cent), Turkiye $697.097 million (9.85 per cent), France $609.628 million (8.61 per cent), and Spain $362.637 million (5.12 per cent), as per TexPro. 

Fabric imports by African nations amounted to $6,977.081 million in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade dipped to $5,574.728 million in 2020 but bounced back to $7,076.514 million in 2021 and further increased to $7,463.759 million in 2022.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)

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