The migration of maquila companies to Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras has generated an increased demand for industrial fabric and textile materials transforming the Guatemalan textile industry.
The director of the board of the Textile and Apparel Commission (Vestex in Spanish) cited as an example the increase in fabric exports to Central America compared with the decline in the demand for finished products for the U.S. market.
"According to the director, before the migration of maquila companies, 95% of the local textiles were exported to the North American market as finished garments, while today the proportion is 83%.
Former President of Vestex , Alejandro Ceballos said the trend for exporting products and raw materials is increasing. In the opinion of the employer, the local market is "becoming a supplier to the textile companies based in the region. '"
Source: sigloxxi.com
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May 2009
During the month of April 2009, there were $87.4 million exported to the US, Guatemala’s main trading partner, 12.7% higher than what was exported in March.
Alejandro Ceballos, president of the Committee of Textiles and Clothing (VESTEX), believes that the sector will show greater recovery in July, when the strong season will begin in the US for the sector.
August 2010
After a big drop in 2009, sales abroad have seen a 17.6% increase in the first half of 2010.
According to information from Vestex, the Guatemalan association of textile and apparel manufacturers, in the first six months of this year the sector's exports totaled $705.2 million, 17.6% higher than the $599.6 million exported in the same period of 2009.
May 2010
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.
April 2009
Sector entrepreneurs are focused on increasing the added value of the garments to offset the fall in demand abroad.
According to the Commission on Textiles and Clothing (Vestex) of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agex-port), there were $202 million exported in January and February 2009, $84.2 million less than during the same period last year when the total was $286.2 million.
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