Iran Clothing Industry Struggling Because of Rise in Final Cost
Iran Clothing Industry Struggling Because of Rise in Final Cost
Vice President of the Textile and Clothing Production and Export Union says the final cost of production in clothing industry is on the rise and it affects this industry and its future.

TEHRAN (Iran News) –Vice President of the Textile and Clothing Production and Export Union says the final cost of production in clothing industry is on the rise and it affects this industry and its future.

Speaking to ILNA, Majid Nami said that with the decline in the purchasing power of the people and rise in the price of first hand apparels, the number of people purchasing the second hand clothes is on the rise and it may be a threat to users’ health.

He pointed to the decline in the share of apparel in the households’ consumer basket and said that according to the reports of the Statistical Center of Iran, after the decline in the purchasing power, people have lost their appetite for purchasing new and first hand clothes.

Stating that smuggling of clothes saw upward trend in the 1390s (Iranian calendar year) (almost 2000s), he said that the government slapped ban on imports of over 2,000 items of goods like apparel aimed at supporting the domestic production and controlling the forex market after imposition of sanctions against Iran.

He noted that after the decline in the share of smuggling in the apparel market, the price of apparel did not increase so much because of competition in the apparel industry of the country despite inflation and rise in the price of raw materials.

Nami went on to say that after the pandemic and decline in trade exchange, they witnessed excessive arrival of goods into the country and therefore there is a competition between domestic product and smuggled goods and Iranian brands have to fix their prices in a way to compete with their foreign rivals while the final cost of their products is increasing daily because of the rise in the price of the raw materials, and this rise in the price is the biggest danger which threatens domestic production.

He admitted that the rise in the final cost of apparel in Iran affects exports of the apparel while economic, trade and industrial infrastructures are also required to increase exports.

He pointed to the progress of Asian countries in the apparel industry and their final costs are very lower than Iran, noting that they have better infrastructures.

Nami reiterated that with the decline in the purchasing power of the people and the hike in the price of new apparel, people have turned into second hand clothes and it can have dangerous consequences on the health of consumers.

He admitted that this decline in sales has forced many apparel producers to close their businesses and even some producers used to sell low price products were forced to shut down because people prefer to buy high quality apparel to use it for longer time than buying low price products with lower quality.