Fabric production down 21 percent in January 2021
New Delhi, April 17 (IANS)| The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt the demand for clothing. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has claimed this. Ind-Ra said that there has been a marginal improvement in woven fabric production in January 2021, while it was down 21 per cent year-on-year.
The report said that the blended and knitted fabrics showed quick recovery. This could also be because the work-from-home era during the pandemic did not have any long-term negative effects on such clothing.
In addition, export demand for knitwear is grappling during the second wave of the pandemic in major destination countries in the first quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, it was also observed that the demand for imported fabrics increased between December 2020 and January 2021 due to restocking by retailers. Imports by value doubled between November 2020 and January 2021 with higher shipments from China, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Accordingly, the agency expects that due to the evolving situation in the midst of the pandemic, closure of retail spaces, malls, shopping centers, especially in cities, may delay the uptick in domestic demand. That is, there is a possibility of a decrease in demand in the midst of the second wave of Corona. Recently, many state governments have imposed local lockdowns to curb the rising cases of Kovid-19 infection, which has increased the concern of common citizens as well as industries.
In addition, several state governments have already implemented weekend curfew. Additionally, malls, restaurants and other types of markets have either been closed or their operating hours have been changed.