Global developments roil fabric markets
Carole Sloan, Senior Contributing Editor -- Furniture Today, January 9, 2005
Fabric folks say this week's almost simultaneous Showtime and Heimtextil markets, in High Point and Frankfurt, Germany, respectively, will offer a broad array of challenges and opportunities for the new year.
And, in contrast to years past, most of the changes will be globally driven.
As Heimtextil morphs more and more into a sourcing show, American exhibitor participation has reached an all-time low. This is a strange turn of events considering the weak U.S. dollar makes American fabrics a real value in most other parts of the world. It's a currency situation that many believe will continue to be part of the global scene for some time.
For Americans who use both Showtime and Heimtextil as venues for shopping, each event will be different from years gone by. For those involved with the high-end, high-quality European mills, the challenge will be two-fold: rationalizing the pricing in the euro versus the dollar scenario, and evaluating the relative quality available from European fabric suppliers versus suppliers from other countries.
The latter, according to a number of American customers, are catching up both in quality and design, while some European mills are moving offshore in joint ventures or other business arrangements with mills in Turkey, India, Pakistan and China, among other countries.
Then there's the situation here at home, with fabric suppliers still digesting the impact and ramifications of the closing of Hoffman Mills, and what this portends for the American home furnishings fabrics business. It's a challenge that no one has the answer to, and it appears there is no single response that would fit all situations.
Add to that the potential for chaos as shipments of goods no longer subject to U.S. quotas are detained at ports because they were shipped before the Jan. 1 lifting of quotas. And the picture also is unclear vis-à-vis the status of goods now eligible to be shipped from here to countries formerly under quota allotments.
Stay tuned. Things could get very interesting.
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