The “Made in China” label could be on half the worlds garments by 2007 after WTO export quotas expire at the end of this year, boosting Chinese manufacturers and global retailers at the expense of smaller exporters, according to the World Bank press review Tuesday.
China made 17 percent of the worlds textiles and clothes in 2003. The World Trade Organization sees that market share rocketing past 50 percent within three years, and in the United States alone, textile makers expect some 42 billion US dollar of clothing orders to go Chinas way by 2006.
Retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Gap Inc., Hennes and Mauritz, Giordano, Inditex and Esprit will be able to buy more cheap Chinese textiles, reducing costs by sourcing from fewer suppliers.
They will also be able to stop paying for scarce quotas, which according to brokerage CLSA, account for between 5 and 38 percent of the cost of a garment once it has been loaded on a ship.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
