Apparel sector stands to benefit from US-China trade war: Teejay

• Says firms apprehensive about relying on a single destination for supplies
• Notes impact of COVID-19 moderate on firm due to its new product portfolio

The ongoing conflict between the USA and China could be in favour for nations such as Sri Lanka since global apparel companies are looking to expand their sourcing options, South Asia’s largest textile group and knit fabric provider, Teejay Group said. The textile group, which is also Sri Lanka’s only multinational mill, said that the trade war between the two giants has pushed the global apparel industry to actively look at alternate manufacturing centres, an opportunity economies in the South Asian region could capitalise on.

“The US-China trade tensions could have positive ramifications for garment centres such as Sri Lanka and others within the South Asian region.

Moreover, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, companies are apprehensive about relying on a single destination for their supply chain, thus are moving away from China and looking at the South Asian region,” said Teejay Lanka Chairman Wing Tak Bill Lam in the company’s latest annual report.

Pointing out that supply chain strategising to maintain the total supply chain within a country and mitigating its reliance on a single destination may become a reality in the future, with consolidation within industries also being part of the COVID-19 impact, he said that Teejay is ideally poised to leverage on opportunities arising since it has facilities in India as well.
Lam stressed that the company continues to adjust itself in the ‘new normal’, so that it functions in full capacity and remains cognisant of seizing opportunities as the firm emerges in the new dynamics.

“The group remains optimistic about the future while aiming to ‘shockproof’ the business by preparing a contingency plan. Its new business development efforts and switch-over to manufacturing PPE-related products reflect its ability to evolve fast,” he added.

Acknowledging that the apparel industry as a whole will be affected by the impacts arising from the global pandemic, Lam expressed confidence that the impact of the ongoing global crisis will be moderate on the company.

Reason being, the group will continue to manufacture masks as long as COVID-19 exists and developed already is a collection of post-COVID fabrics, which focuses on defensive fabrics such as antiviral/antimicrobial defences, textiles with carbon compounds, in addition to the sustainable fabric collection. (SAA)