India - Handicraft Exports Surge Over 28 pc in Jul.

Handicraft exports in July surged by 28.8 percent showing an increase of USD 34.86 million as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal due to rising demand from the traditional western markets, said the Export Promotional Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) official data.

The major handicraft items such as artmetalwares grew by 21.3 percent, woodwares by 52.7 percent , handprinted textiles and scaraves by 25.09 percent, embroidered and crochetted goods by 20 percent, shawls by 48.70 percent, zari and zari goods by 14.08 percent in the month of July this year.

The Council said the US, Europe and the emerging markets like Africa, Latin America and the Middle East have performed substantially well.

Handicraft exports in July touched USD 155 million while exports in the first quarter of this fiscal registered growth of 14.5 percent to USD 555.2 million over the same period in the previous year.

Observing this EPCH's Chairman, Arvind Vadhera, told SME Times, "As compared to last year, we have witnessed a growth of 14 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal. Until now, the growth has been fine. We have shown the performance as per as the trend. But, we are facing some problems currently as there is a slowdown and credit rating problems in the US."

"The order flows are presently remarkable from Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Denmark. Sadly, there is difficulty in the markets such as Spain, France, Greece, etc. In these markets, we are facing negative trend. The US and Europe markets are also facing slowdown," he added.

If the global situation remains stable, it is estimated that the handicraft exports in the current fiscal will touch USD 2.7 billion as compared to the corresponding period last year, which registered a growth of 26 percent to USD 2.3 billion.

Source : yarnsandfibers.com