Amman: Representative of the leather and textile industries sector in Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI), Ihab Qadri, said the sector’s export index has begun to return to its “rising” growth path, driven by increased foreign demand, especially in the American market.
In remarks to “Petra,” Qadri noted the sector’s exports grew by 20.5% during the first five months of this year, compared to the same period last year 2023.
Qadri added that the sector’s exports during the past five months exceeded the JD635 million barrier, constituting about 19.4% of the Kingdom’s total industrial exports.
Qadri also indicated that this “remarkable” growth reflects the beginning of recovery of the sector’s exports to previous “high” levels.
Qadri attributed the growth of the sector’s exports during the current year to the gradual return of demand in the U.S. market, which accounts for 80% of total exports, in addition to the expansion of exports to some European markets, primarily the Netherlands and Belgium.
Furthermore, h
e stressed the importance of expanding exports into non-traditional destinations and diversifying exporting markets, especially in light of the availability of many untapped export opportunities that amount to more than $688 million, according to estimates by the World Trade Center (WTC).
In contrast to the growth of the sector’s exports, Qadri referred to a decline in sales in the local market due to the repercussions of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza people, which caused a “clear” stagnation in various economic activities.
Qadri pointed to the impact of imported postal parcels and their growth on the sector’s trade activity, amid the continued decision to reduce and unify fees on these postal items and the increase in imports from some countries, which the Kingdom does not have agreements, especially carpet and rug products, in light of the decision to reduce customs tariffs.
Qadri explained that these factors “clearly” affected the share of the leather and textile industries sector in the local m
arket, which does not exceed 45% of the total market size at best.
This decline in the local market was “clearly” evident in the drop of industrial production quantities index for a number of sub-sectors, primarily the local clothing industry, which went down by 20% during the first third of the current year, compared to the same period last year, he pointed out.
Qadri also noted to the decline in carpet and rug products and manufacturing by 10% and the leather products industry by 40%.
Source: Jordan News Agency
