Brazilian Look Launched in Europe
January 17, 2003
São Paulo - ABIT, the Brazilian textile and apparel industry association, is helping to push Latin American home textiles into international markets. The organization assisted five Brazilian companies to exhibit for the first time at TIP 2002 in Brussels.
For many, Brazil represents something of an unknown - yet it is the world's ninth largest economy, it has the largest gross domestic product in South America, and it encompasses 168 million people speaking one language, of whom 80 percent are urban.
Moreover, Brazil is the world's seventh largest textile producing country, with an annual turnover of $22 billion and $1.4 billion in exports in 2001. The 30,000 companies comprising the textile/clothing industry employ 1.4 million people and produce 7.2 billion pieces of finished product a year.
Brazil is also self-sufficient in cotton. It is now the world's sixth largest producer, producing 900,000 tons of cotton fiber annually.
Over the past eight years, $7 billion has been invested in the textile/clothing sector, with a further $12 billion scheduled for the next seven years. Twenty university courses now specialize in fashion and style.
According to ABIT representative Paulo dos Anjos, interior textiles represent about 10 percent of Brazil's total textile manufacture. Exports of furnishing fabrics are currently worth less than $10 million; this is still more than the figure of 10 years ago, when there was virtually no export tradition.
''Brazil previously relied on imports, but it is now more difficult to bring fabrics into the country,'' said dos Anjos. ''As a result, there is much more competition between local manufacturers.''
Decorative fabric production is concentrated in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with home textiles predominantly made in the south of Brazil. At present, furnishing fabric exports are concentrated on the U.S. market, but a coordinated effort from ABIT is geared to pushing companies to sell in Europe and other markets worldwide.
ABIT, which is looking to triple the textile/apparel sector's export sales by 2008, is also trying to improve Brazil's design skills to allow companies to compete on international markets under the association's TexBrasil brand. ''We want to create a Brazilian look in decorative fabrics,'' dos Anjos commented.
The five Brazilian companies exhibiting at TIP were jacquard fabric manufacturer Abduche, velvet fabric producer Crown, decorative fabric maker Fiama, linen fabric producer LinifÌcio Leslie and jacquard weaver Tèxtil Tapecol.F&FI
For many, Brazil represents something of an unknown - yet it is the world's ninth largest economy, it has the largest gross domestic product in South America, and it encompasses 168 million people speaking one language, of whom 80 percent are urban.
Moreover, Brazil is the world's seventh largest textile producing country, with an annual turnover of $22 billion and $1.4 billion in exports in 2001. The 30,000 companies comprising the textile/clothing industry employ 1.4 million people and produce 7.2 billion pieces of finished product a year.
Brazil is also self-sufficient in cotton. It is now the world's sixth largest producer, producing 900,000 tons of cotton fiber annually.
Over the past eight years, $7 billion has been invested in the textile/clothing sector, with a further $12 billion scheduled for the next seven years. Twenty university courses now specialize in fashion and style.
According to ABIT representative Paulo dos Anjos, interior textiles represent about 10 percent of Brazil's total textile manufacture. Exports of furnishing fabrics are currently worth less than $10 million; this is still more than the figure of 10 years ago, when there was virtually no export tradition.
''Brazil previously relied on imports, but it is now more difficult to bring fabrics into the country,'' said dos Anjos. ''As a result, there is much more competition between local manufacturers.''
Decorative fabric production is concentrated in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with home textiles predominantly made in the south of Brazil. At present, furnishing fabric exports are concentrated on the U.S. market, but a coordinated effort from ABIT is geared to pushing companies to sell in Europe and other markets worldwide.
ABIT, which is looking to triple the textile/apparel sector's export sales by 2008, is also trying to improve Brazil's design skills to allow companies to compete on international markets under the association's TexBrasil brand. ''We want to create a Brazilian look in decorative fabrics,'' dos Anjos commented.
The five Brazilian companies exhibiting at TIP were jacquard fabric manufacturer Abduche, velvet fabric producer Crown, decorative fabric maker Fiama, linen fabric producer LinifÌcio Leslie and jacquard weaver Tèxtil Tapecol.F&FI
