Australia : US retail sector may reduce wool apparel import orders

A review of statistics from the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) reveals US imports of wool apparel reached a 2 year high in August, hitting a similar level to that recorded in August 2005.
The solid performance of wool apparel imports in the US market is within the context of exceptionally strong imports by the US of apparel and textiles.
The main supplier of apparel and textiles on the US market is China. In volume terms, China's market share for total US apparel imports increased solidly from August 2005 to August 2007.
The importance of China in US imports is even greater in the sector of wool apparel products, where there is a steady upward trend in the growing share of Chinese wool apparel products on the US market.
However, the solid monthly trend in US wool apparel imports may not continue, with some signs that local retail sales are slowing down and subdued demand in US retail sector may reduce the number of import orders for wool apparel in the next few months.