Brazilian clothing exports should grow only 3% this year, due to the heavy depreciation of the dollar in the last 15-16 months, estimates the presiding director of the Institute of Industrial Studies and Marketing (Iemi), Marcelo Prado.
“There has been a deceleration in export growth, which was expanding at a much faster pace,” he assesses.
The objective of the Brazilian textile sector is to recover the 1% share of the international market it once had, in the decade of the ’80’s, reveals the supervising director of the Brazilian Textile and Clothing Industry Association (Abit), Fernando Pimentel.
The country’s share currently represents only 0.4-0.5% of world textile and apparel trade, which totals around US$ 400 billion. A 1% share of the world market would mean annual exports of US$ 4 billion for Brazil, instead of the US$ 2.08 billion exported last year, Pimentel observes.
He affirms that the way to recover this position involves exporting garments rather than raw material. Pimentel explains that a kilogram of exported cotton is worth US$ 1.20, whereas a kilogram of exported beach fashion apparel fetches as much as US$ 55.00.
Prado informs that Brazil’s current share of this line of products in world trade amounts to 0.02%, due to factors such as fragmentation of the market, which lacks the structure to accept big orders, export, and compete for consumer markets. 85% of world imports are concentrated in Europe, North America, and Japan.
Pimentel underlined the need for Brazil to negotiate regional or bilateral agreements to enter these markets with competitive advantages, as it has done in other regions, such as Central America, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
“International negotiations are crucial for Brazil to gain space in this 85% of the world market that is currently composed of the rich countries.”
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br
