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Garment export slightly up in 2nd quarter of ’04
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Posted on Sep 21 2004
Latest data from the Department of Finance showed that garment export was slightly up in the second quarter this year compared with the same period last year. However, the second quarter figure is about 11 percent lower than the first quarter this year.
Finance said that garment exports during the second quarter this year totaled $186.2 million, a decline of 11.3 percent compared with the previous quarter’s $210 million.
In 2003, Finance recorded $183.8 million export value of apparel for the second quarter.
With the worldwide lifting of quota restrictions at the end of this year, it is projected that garment exports from the CNMI would decline drastically as its competitive edge of being able to export quota free to the United States would be abolished, allowing countries such as China and India to compete with the CNMI’s garment makers.
The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association earlier reported industry-wide sales in August 2004 of $67.2 million to U.S. mainland buyers and retailers. It said that for FY 2004, the total value is $746.7 million.
SGMA executive director Richard A. Pierce had said that Saipan apparel sales dropped in July by 16 percent, but the yearly totals were still up for the first 11 months of FY 2004 by 2.8 percent.
SGMA said that Saipan factory sales were highest in FY 1999 at $1.06 billion. Sales dropped to $1.04 billion in 2000, further dropping in 2001 to $965 million, $821 million in 2002, and $795 million in 2003.
During the peak year, the CNMI government also registered a highest collection of user fee totaling $39.2 million.
Its collection had also dropped accordingly to $38.5 million in 2000; $35.7 million in 2001; $30.4 million in 2002; and $29.4 million in 2003.
Pierce said that sales in FY 2004 are expected to reach slightly over $800 million, with user fee payments totaling close to $30 million to the government.
SGMA is comprised of 25 of Saipan’s 27 licensed apparel manufacturers. The industry accounts for nearly 16,000 jobs in the factories and yields a third of the CNMI budget income.
