After a tough first semester 2012, which saw a significantly decline in orders from the main market of the Guatemalan textile industry, the recovery began in June.
According to an article in Prensalibre.com the manager of the Garment and Textile Committee (Vestex) of Agexport, Alejandro Ceballos, said that during the first five months of the year economic uncertainty in the U.S., high international prices of cotton, and problems caused by the implementation of the new Customs Act, meant that purchase orders steadily declined.
Textile exports to the United States reported at the end of 2011 an increase of 25%, with the largest exporter being Honduras, followed by El Salvador.
Marisa Mont, a technician at the Economic Integration Secretariat, outlined the results, "Recovery begins from 2010 and is growing exponentially. This demonstrates an upward trend and that clearly is going to continue, although it is probably not going to keep growing by 25%, but it is an uptrend.
Guatemala went from exporting 50,000 screen printed garments to 12 million within 12 years.
Within a month, the textile and clothing sector exports abroad 32 million items, of which 37.5% have graphic prints, said Robert Matheu, president of the Silkscreen Commission from the Clothing and Textiles sector.
Matheu attributes this growth to training and access to technology, according to Prensalibre.com.
Businessmen say that clothing and textiles have regained the export levels of pre 2008-2009, when sales plummeted by 30%.
The president of the Garment and Textile Committee (Vestex), Carlos Arias, said that in 2008 and 2009 the industry saw sales drop by 30%. This meant that 15,000 people lost their jobs.
"There is a direct link between sales and jobs, and last year we recovered about 30% of the production affected by the crisis, so we believe that a similar recovery can be seen in terms of employment", said Arias to Siglo21. com.gt.
The industry ranks as the number one generator of foreign exchange with $1,130 million exported in 2011, displacing coffee, according to official data.
Guatemalan clothing and textile exports reached $1,130 million between January and November 2011, which slightly exceeds the revenue generated by coffee, which amounted to $1,110 million in the same period, reported the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat).
The country sold $4,578 million worth of goods abroad in the first 5 months of the year, 26.8% more than in the same period in 2010.
According to officials from the Bank of Guatemala, the increase is mainly explained by the increase in the price of commodities, especially sugar, bananas, coffee and cardamom oil.
In general, higher export volumes were also reported, sugar being the main exception, due to lower production.
In September, clothing and textile sales to the U.S. grew 18% over the same period in 2009.
According to the Central Bank of Guatemala, total exports amounted to $1.07 billion in clothing and fabrics, or $168.2 million more than last year.
"According to Garment and Textile Committee, Guatemala has specialized in sales of knit shirts and synthetic clothing for ladies and gentlemen as well as canvas pants," writes Prensalibre.com.
Exports have grown a mild 3.4%, with agricultural goods leading the way; Guatemala’s trade balance with the U.S. remains negative.
It is possible that the U.S economic crisis prevented the treaty from producing better results for Central American nations, but it is also probable that it helped soften the negative economic effects of said crisis.
Guatemalan industrial goods have so far been unable to enter the U.S.
In April, Guatemala exported $82 million more textile goods than in the same period of 2009.
78.1% of them went to the United States, 17% to Central America and the rest to other countries such as Mexico and Canada.
Data from Vestex, the Textile and Apparel Commision, shows that apparel exports have been recovering sustainably since November 2009, after several years of negative growth.
After nine months of consecutive decreases, textile exports finally reversed the trend, increasing 2.48% in October.
In October, sales to the U.S. summed $102 million, 2.48% more than the same month of 2008, according to data from Vestex, the Textile and Apparel Commision.
Sigloxxi.com reports: "Alejandro Ceballos, Vestex President, says the increase is due to 'the start of a recovery process in the U.S.