Export of woollen carpets plunged in terms of both quantity and value last year.
Export volume dipped 8.49 percent, while export earnings was down 3.48 percent in FY 2014-15, according to the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC).
The statistics show Nepal exported the product worth $62.48 million last year, down from $64.74 million in the previous year. The exported quantity shrunk to 421,907sqm from 461,065sqm.
Traders and experts attributed the fall to labour shortage, government apathy, power outage and high production cost.
Anup Bahadur Malla, president of Nepal Carpet Exporters’ Association, said labour shortage, which has worsened after the April 25 earthquake, affected the business. “With the shortage of manpower, we have been unable to dispatch previous orders on time,” he said.
Malla said the dearth of skilled manpower resulted in slow growth of the sector. “We have been asking the government to provide training to the general people, but our demand has remained unheard,” he said.
Soaring production cost, as a result of a rise in prices of imported raw materials, has also been attributed for the fall in the exports. “The high production cost has made our products expensive compared those of almost all the South Asian countries,” he said.
TEPC Executive Director Ishwori Ghimire echoed Malla. “The high production cost has made Nepali carpets incompetent in the international market,” he said. “However, the collective trademark is expected to help boost the market.”
Last year, Nepal exported carpet worth $29.80 million to the US, the largest of all. It was followed by Germany ($11.99 million), the United Kingdom ($5.03 million) and Canada ($2.95 million). Belgium, Italy, Australia, France, Netherlands and Austria were among the top 10 importing countries out of 60 major importers of Nepali carpet.
Paramount Carpet Industry topped in terms of exports by quantity. It exported 23,405sqm of the carpets worth $1.24 million. Himalayan Art Carpet, NP Rugs, Third Eye International and The Shangrila Carpet and Handicrafts rounded out the top five exporters.
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