Apparel exports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are likely to drop in the next couple of months due to the recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, which has affected manufacturing as well as the demand. Some factories in countries like Vietnam and Malaysia have been forced to shut down due to the rising cases.

Southeast Asia is one of the major manufacturing hubs for textiles and clothing industry and supplies to well-known brands in economies like Japan, the US, the EU and the UK.

Economies that have been hit hard by the resurgence of the pandemic include Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. These economies are major exporters of textiles and clothing amongst all ASEAN members. According to the industry stakeholders, this condition may linger for a slightly longer period as it is also dependent on the other Asian economies like China, South Korea and Taiwan, which are also hit by the new wave of COVID-19.

Additionally, Delta outbreaks in regions like Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia have suspended a major part of the supply chains as strict lockdown measures were implemented in these countries.

ASEAN apparel exports were $46.30 billion in January 2021 and increased significantly by 17.61 per cent in Q1 2021 to reach $54.45 billion in March 2021. But the exports dropped by 37.08 per cent in Q2 2021 to reach $34.26 billion in June 2021, according to Fibre2Fashion's market analysis tool TexPro.

Apparel exports from ASEAN region are expected to decrease further by 7.76 per cent to $31.60 billion in October 2021 and recover again to reach $36.50 billion in December 2021.

By Fibre2Fashion
https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/international-textiles-trade-news/asean-apparel-exports-to-decline-before-recovering-again-in-dec-2021-276107-newsdetails.htm