EU : Imports From China Slowing Down

European Union’s imports from China is slowing down while apparel export of India to EU has consolidated in the first quarter. India's quotas will be rapidly saturated in the coming months as a result, leaving room for a surge in last-minute imports from other low-cost Asian countries.

Fill rates of China's quotas are surprisingly low this year. With about 40% of the year already behind us, saturation in China's quotas does not exceed this level in most sensitive EU categories.

Fill rate is only 23% in category 8 (woven shirts), 25% in category 7 (blouses), 30% in category 6 (trousers) and nearly 40% in category 4 (knitted shirts, including T-shirts).

China last year saturated its quotas in all these categories, by comparison.

The low level in quota fill rate reflects a lower growth in EU's imports from China as a result of SARS outbreak.

With the euro still rising against the US dollar, China's dollar linked currency could further fall against the euro, however, therefore stimulating sales to the Euro zone.