Textile and clothing: exports down and imports up in October

Exports of the textile and clothing sector fell by 3.29% in October, while imports went up by 5.97%, compared to the same period of 2010. Results of the sector's exchanges for October 2011 showed a decline in exports of 3.45% in value, for an amount of 440 million dinars (MTD). As for imports, they increased by 5.97% in value and 4.36% in weight, i.e., 359 MTD, said the Economic Letter of the Technical Textile Centre, CETTEX. Analysis per branch reveals a slight decline (-0.45%) in the value of textile exports and a more significant fall for the clothing branch (3.95%), compared to the same period of 2010. The coverage rate of October was down 12 points compared to the same period of 2010, reaching a value of 122.8% Major customers of Tunisia during the period between January and October 2011 are Germany (+21.8%), Netherlands (+ 21.7%), the United Kingdom (+5.9%), Italy (+4.7%), France (+ 3.8%), Spain (+3.4%) and Belgium (+2.3%). Tunisia's suppliers are Turkey (+39.9%), China (+23.6%), United Kingdom (+13.3%), Germany (+11.6%), Belgium (+3.32%), Italy (+2,2%),  France (-0.6%) and Spain (-6.4%).