01/15/2009 10h37
Textile sector grows 4% in 2008 and foresees new rise this year
Gazeta Mercantil - 01/15/2009
If the government continues taking measures to assure employment in the Country and manage to achieve a positive GDP in 2009, the textile industry believes it is possible to keep its growth this year, according to the president of the Brazilian Association of Textile and Clothing Industry (Abit), Aguinaldo Diniz Filho. "Although we are going through a difficult situation, I believe our sector can grow more and can generate more jobs this year", affirmed Diniz Filho, while showing the preview of the results of the sector at the Fashion Rio. According to the data of the Abit, the textile industry closed 2008 with an increase of 4% in income, from US$ 41.2 billion, in 2007, to US$ 43 billion. "If the government continues with its policies to assure the economy, this year we should reach the growth level of 2007, between 2.5% and 3%", said the businessman. For that, Diniz counts on a GDP between 2% and 2.5% and a stable dollar at around R$ 2.30. The more expensive dollar can help the Brazilian textile industry, sixth largest producer of the world, to recover its status in the foreign market - even though the greatest economies are going through a sharper crisis and the Asian countries, our main rivals, are seeking to increase their sales to Brazil in order to market their production. In 2008, the deficit in the trade balance doubled, to US$ 2 billion. The main destinations of the Brazilian shipments were Argentina, the United States and Mexico. On the top of the imports are China and India. In spite of the good performance in the year, the turmoil of the last months shook the sector. Until November, the production of the clothing segment increased 4% compared to the same period of the previous year. For the closing of 2008, however, the forecast is of a little smaller expansion, of 3.6%, affected by a decrease in the last month. The production in the textile segment, which considers only the manufacturing of fabrics, reduced 0.27% until November and, including December, Abit works with a forecast of a fall of 0.35%. "The fall in the demand was already felt in November and December, and the industry had to adapt its production", said Diniz. However, he emphasized that the reduction in the end of the year is also part of a common seasonality of this industry. The peak of production that gets to the retail for Christmas and summer is reached in the months of September and October, whereas December and January are normally the calmest months in the factories.
