Reg Rumney
South African textile exports last year surged by around 31 percent,=20 compared to calendar 1993, to R1,5-billion. Nonetheless, as the Textile Federation=D5s August 1995 Textile Watch=20 comments, textile export statistics are a microcosm of what is wrong with=
South Africa=D5s foreign trade. Textile exports remain mostly commodity- based and, therefore, vulnerable to volatile price swings. The improvement last year was due mainly to better terms of trade in the=20 fibres market, notes Textile Watch. =D2Even so, it=D5s sobering to reflect that wool accounted for more than ha= lf of=20 total exports of textiles: R840,3-million or a 37 percent increase in value=
terms on a two percent fall in the volume of wool exported.=D3 Severe shortages of cotton sent man-made fibre prices up, so that exports=
of these fibres rose 365 percent in volume terms and 334 percent in money=
terms, from R21-million to around R93-million. =D2Fibres, however, accounted for the lion=D5s share of exports in money te=
=D1 R963-million out of R1,5-billion =D1 a grim reminder of how far the=20 sector still has to climb up the value-added ladder.=D3 Naturally, the Textile Federation mouthpiece uses the figures to argue that=
the industry needs at least a decade to modernise.=20 Trade and Industry Minister Trevor Manuel has proposed a seven-year=20 phasing down of protection for the industry, which favoured 12 years.=20 The industry is also not happy with proposed =D2supply-side=D3 measures to=
compensate for the reduction in tariff protection by some other form of=20
It feels these measures fall short of what had been promised.