TEHRAN (Iran News) – Deputy Head of Tehran’s Union of Garment Manufacturers and Sellers says Iran’s garment exports were very considerable in the past but in recent years it has declined.
Speaking at a presser, Majid Eftekhari said that in recent years Iran’s garment exports have declined to $50m to $60m but the figure rebounded last year to $113 and it was due to the devaluation of the national currency and its comparatively cheap price.
He added that neighboring states like Iraq and Afghanistan are the major destinations for exports of Iranian apparel and countries like the Central Asian and Arab states are the other destinations for the products of this industry but the current banking restrictions have created hurdles for exports.
He went on to say that we see traders of other countries enter Iran and buy different products like garment and carpets with Iranian national currency and take them to other countries and most of them are not even registered anywhere.
Eftekhari also pointed to the problems of this industry in the country and blamed the shortage of the raw material and smuggling as the major problems that this industry is facing. He said industry ministry has imposed some unwise and uncalculated restrictions for import of raw material and it has even helped the price of the domestic raw material to rise by 40 percent. He stated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the world, some commodities in countries like China and Bangladesh had no demands and they are ow ready to be offered in the market and it will make the condition tough for Iranian garment producers.
He also pointed to the figures released by the officials regarding the decline in the amount of smuggling of the apparel into the country from $1.8b to $600m, and added that the imports are divided in two parts of official and smuggling. He said that official import of the apparel is banned and if the statistics regarding to the decline of smuggling to $600m is true, then some changes should have been seen in the domestic market and production.
Eftekhari said that the number of involved people in the apparel industry has been around 300,000 people in the country and so far no major change has happened in it and for this reason one can cast doubt on the statistics regarding the smuggling.
He said after imposing ban on imports of apparel to save the forex, many international brands decided to produce their products in Iran and for this reason apparel production in the country picked up. He reiterated that the slim advantage in the apparel production is vanishing due to the shortage in raw material and lack modern machineries.
Eftekhari reiterated that raw material in Turkey is up to 30 percent cheaper than Iran and it can boost the smuggling, adding that due to the economic condition of the households, they are after cheaper commodities because the final cost of Iranian products is more expensive.
He then asked the government and the next president to support this industry, adding that many websites are busy with selling the smuggled garments online.
