The surge in EU's clothing imports from China negatively affected shipments from other countries in Asia and Africa, said the French Fashion Institute during its recent conference on global textile prospects for 2006.
EU's total apparel imports will reach about 51 billion euros in 2005, according to IFM's estimate, a 4 percent rise from the previous year.
Imports from China will obviously have sharply increased in this first year without quotas to nearly 17 billion euros, according to IFM's head statistician Gildas Minvielle.
Shipments from China of woven apparel would jump by 44 percent to account for 36 percent of total imports in the same category of products, against only 25 percent in 2003.
Imports of knitted apparel would surge 64 percent, finally accounting for 30 percent of EU's imports vs. 18 percent in 2003.
In terms of market shares on EU's import market, China got a 10.3 percent rise in the January-August period of 2005 with its share rising from 23 to 33 percent. India only gained 1 percent, by comparison.
Other major suppliers outside China and India suffered a decline in market shares, especially Asian countries that together lost 7.7 percent.
Asia's share of EU's clothing imports only rose from 53 percent in 2003 to 58 percent in 2005, as a consequence.
Eastern European countries outside the EU and North African suppliers were also negatively affected, especially Romania with a 2 percent drop in its market share.
Morocco's share of EU's clothing imports declined from 5.3 percent in 2003 to 4.9 percent in 2004 and 4.3 percent in 2005.
Tunisia's share fell from 5.9 percent in 2003 to 5.3 percent in 2004 and 4.8 percent in 2005.
Turkey's share very slightly decreased from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 15.5 percent in 2005, according to IFM's estimates.
EU's imports from China were clearly curbed by textile safeguards.
Imports in categories under quotas reached more than 1 billion euros until mid-June, before a first agreement was concluded with China.
Restricted shipments from China were down to 548 million euros from mid-June until the end of the year, according to IFM's estimates.
Imports from China in these categories will drop in 2006, as a result of the bilateral agreement.
From 1.58 billion euros in 2005, they would decline 11.50 percent to 1.40 billion in the next year.
Imports that were subject to quotas in 2005 only accounted for 35 percent of total imports, however, with nearly 3 billion euros shipped from China without any ceiling.
The overall effect of the bilateral agreement will therefore be limited, even with a decline in imports under quotas in 2006.
EU buyers will less focus on China, however, with quotas forcing them in looking for other origins.
India is a very strong outsider to China, according to the IFM.
