The new post-Covid sourcing map: Poland breaks into the ‘top ten’ in the heat of proximity

The coronavirus revolutionizes sourcing of fashion. One year after the pandemic began to hit the sector precisely at the beginning of its value chain, the map of fashion suppliers in Europe has turned upside down. Hubs in proximity, such as Poland, they have risen to the ranking of the ten largest providers, while others far away such as India or the United States have lost positions.

Of the twenty largest fashion suppliers in Europe, understood in a broad sense (with footwear, cosmetics, accessories and jewelry), Poland is the one that has reduced its sales the least between January and November 2020, according to the latest data available from Eurostacom.

Imports to the country were barely reduced by 0.7%, up to 11,326 million euros, which has gone from being the twelfth largest supplier on the continent to the sixth, surpassing hubs as relevant as Turkey or Bangladesh.

In head is China, with fashion exports to Europe of 34,394 million euros, 17.6% less than in the same period of the previous year. After Poland, Turkey is the next pole in proximity that appears in the table, and has also climbed positions in the year of the pandemic.

Turkey has gone from being the tenth largest supplier to the eighth, with purchases worth 10,807 million euros. Bangladesh, for its part, has gone from sixth to seventh, after reducing its sales to Europe by 16.9%.

The greatest falls were recorded by far poles which are not so relevant in the European fashion sourcing. Purchases from the United States, for example, plunged 19.6%, and those from India plummeted 23.1%. The latter country was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and the factories were idle for several months.

The map has also changed in the United States, although in his case the changes in the ranking are not marked by the proximity-distance balance, but by the type of product and the flexibility of the different production hubs.

In this sense, while imports from China, the country’s main supplier, plunged 30.6%, those from Vietnam fell only 7.2%. This market is one of the main hubs production of sneakers in the world, which could explain this slight decrease in the year also marked by the increase in sports.

Among suppliers far away, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia also reduced their sales to the United States, while Cambodia increased them by 7.02%. Turkey was the other big winner of the year, with an increase in exports of 6.88%.

On the other hand, poles in proximity to the United States such as Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala (in order of importance) reduced their sales to the country by double digits due to the interruption of activity due to the pandemic.

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