Hong Kong clothing re-exports in March rebounded following poor figures for February but, compared to the same month one year earlier, the growth was much lower. The monthly improvement has been attributed to active trade with China's mainland and also increased shipments to Japan.

The volume of Hong Kong's clothing re-exports in March has rebounded following poor figures for February, latest data confirm.

While the increase may only be 1.5 per cent higher compared with March 2005 re-exports, this represents a turnaround following a 35 per cent drop in February.

March volumes totalled 275.8 million pieces compared with 173.9 million in February.

Continued re-export growth forecast

The Hong Kong government has mainly attributed this growth to strong trade flows from mainland China which accounts for 80 per cent of Hong Kong's total exports.

On a month-to-month basis, the March figures show an improvement to all leading markets in both volume and value terms and economists predict this to continue despite forecasts of a slowdown of the Chinese economy.

And while volumes were 15.5 per cent lower to the key US market compared to one year earlier, the decrease is less than the 42 per cent recorded in February.

The US accounted for 21.1 per cent of all re-exports in March, ahead of the UK in second with 12.9 per cent.

Shipments to Japan were up 5 per cent from one year earlier and more than double that of February while re-exports to mainland China were 115 per cent higher.

Importers paid on average US$4.96 per piece in March, 2.36 per cent cheaper compared with February unit values.

Prices rose slightly for the US market but came down for several important European markets such as the UK and France.

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