Japan: Cotton yarn imports cut by half in 4 years

Characteristics of cotton yarn imports in 2001 were the decline in total import volume and the shift to combed yam. The shift to combed yarn reflected the intention of users to produce sophisticated items. The scale of the Japanese domestic market for dealing materials has further shrunk because of surging imports of made-ups, as in the past several years. Yarn traders have begun to be grouped into two types: traders handling sophisticated yarn mainly for apparel to survive by trial and error, on the one hand, and traders handling regular yarn with the focus on volume, on the other hand.

According to data compiled by the Japan Spinners' Association, imports of pure cotton yarn in 2001 were 543,695 bales, down 13% from the preceding year. These imports reached the 500,000-bale mark for the first time since 1983 (546,518 bales). Imports of pure cotton yarn decreased to half within only four years since 1997 (nearly 1.05 million bales).

The sagging of carded yarn is largely responsible for this decline. Imports of carded yarn fell to 284,833 bales, down a sharp 30%. Carded yarn imports from Pakistan were 225,383 bales, down 28% from the preceding year, while those from Indonesia were 24,060 bales, down 43%.

In contrast, combed yarn imports increased by 20% to 258,862 bales. Imports from Indonesia, the largest supplier of combed yarn, were up 2% to 94,789 bales and virtually maintained the year-ago level. In addition, imports from India, China and Pakistan rose considerably, up 34% to 76,706 bales, up 140% to 28,039 bales and up 35% to 15,782 bales, respectively. Furthermore, imports from other countries also gathered momentum, up 58% (24,224 bales).

There were also remarkable trends: A shift in volume-oriented business handling regular yarn to overseas manufacturing against the specialized manufacturing of sophisticated yarn domestically within Japan. It is thought that shifts to combed yarn reflect this trend. The share taken by combed yarn in annual total imports climbed from 35% in 2000 to 48% in 2001.

Among yarn traders, the definition of two different types has become even more clear: Mainly major trading firms will strive for survival by . growing out of commodity items to operate sophisticated yarn business even in small quantity, while those such as specialty trading firms traditionally strong on cotton yarn business will give continued support to regular yam. Among these trading firms, only Itochu Corporation pursues both types of operation. Its spokesperson says definitely, "We will adopt a double-feature strategy. We will market regular yam efficiently on the Internet, while continuing to dig in order to propose sophisticated yarns such as compact spun yarn."