In recent years, the sector in Guatemala has lost nearly 30,000 jobs, because the high costs resulting from having one of the highest minimum wages in the region, makes it more profitable only to export raw materials, rather than making them in the country.
Vestex figures show that in recent years several jobs have been lost in the sector, given that between 2006 and 2018 the industry lost a considerable number of jobs, going from 82,109 to 53,636 places, equivalent to a 35% decrease.
In the first quarter of the year, imports of yarns and textile supplies in Central America totaled $127 million, registering a 10% drop compared to the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Information System on the Textiles and Textile Supplies Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]
Companies from Hong Kong and Taiwan could be interested in setting up a synthetic and manufacturing plant in the country.
The information was provided by representatives of the Apparel and Textile Commission (Vestex) at Agexport, who explained that in the case of the company from Taiwan, its interest is in establishing a manufacturing plant and supplying the US market.The other company, from Taiwan, could be interested in installing "... a manufacturing plant for synthetic products, and the countries that they are investigating are Guatemala and Haiti."
Companies in the Asian country are looking to provide Guatemalan textile workers with accessories, threads and synthetic fabrics with finishes.
Textile companies in Guatemala envisage the possibility of generating more value in their supply chain with products that can be provided by Chinese companies that specialize in accessories and other necessary inputs for the textile production chain.
In 2016, the value of imported yarns and textile raw materials in the region amounted to $328 million, equivalent to 89 thousand tons, 6% more than the volume purchased in 2015.
Figures from the information system on the Central American Market for Yarns and Textiles materials, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Clic para interactuar con la gráfica"]
Within the framework of the Apparel Sourcing Show, a delegation of Chinese textile entrepreneurs will be visiting the country in May, to explore business opportunities in the sector.
The Apparel Sourcing Show event will be held from May 23 to 25 at the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel, and will bring together textile companies from the Central American region and from other countries.
A meeting is being convened for the textile and clothing industry on March 16 in El Salvador, where the overall situation in the sector will be discussed.
From a statement issued by Proesa:
El Salvador is preparing for the third edition of the Forum of Textiles and Apparel (FOROTEX) 2016, a space where high-level international speakers present trends and strategies for competing in international markets.
Invitations have been extended to food and beverage companies, handicrafts, textiles, pharmaceuticals and services to participate in the first "Korea Trade" fair, from 21st to 26th of June 2016 in Seoul.
Foreign sales recorded a slight decline of 0.5% at the end of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, there were no major changes in the types of products exported and the main target markets.
Organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank had already announced a "negative trade spiral" at the end of 2015 and part of 2016 in Latin America.
Its participation in the US market has dropped, but the unification of the cluster now encompasses the entire manufacturing process, generating exports worth $1.5 billion.
The integration of the production process, generating greater added value to all parts of the production chain of the textile industry, has enabled the industry to stay afloat and face off competition from producers such as Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.
The main products exported were articles of clothing, accounting for 11% of the total, followed by sugar, with 9%, bananas, with 6%, coffee with another 6%, and precious stones and metals, with 3%.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (-AGEXPORT-):
Nicaraguan businessmen have proposed that Central America as a whole operates a preferential tariff treatment in the US for imports of textiles in the region.
After trying to negotiate, through several formats, tariff preference levels (TPL), so far unsuccessfully, textile entrepreneurs are now appealing to the union of the region to address the issue with the US once again.
The implementation of lean manufacturing systems reduces from two hours to five minutes the time it takes to make a garment.
This system, introduced in the textile fair Apparel Sourcing Show 2014, in Guatemala, unifies in a set sequence the "value" steps of the manufacturing process, completely eliminating "waste" steps resulting in higher productivity and resource optimization so that the number of operators needed to make a garment is only nine instead of fifty.
In the remainder of the year Nicaragua will only take advantage of 30% of the eight million pieces of textiles that the EU has assigned it, meaning that sales will be worth just $2 million.
Dean Garcia, executive director of the Nicaraguan Association of the Textile and Apparel Industry, explained that with one quarter of the year left it will be difficult for Nicaraguan firms to find new European customers. This situation will cause noncompliance with the total quota allocated under the Association Agreement with the European Union.
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