Nepal’s garment manufacturers have been cheered by the duty-free access granted by the US recently, but they are having a hard time getting raw materials because of the Indian embargo.

Imports of both readymade garments and raw materials have plunged, said industrialists and traders.

The Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) said that imports of clothes and clothing accessories dropped 9.5 percent to Rs4.1 billion in the first four months of this fiscal year. Nepal’s apparel imports stood at Rs10.2 billion in the last fiscal year, according to TEPC.

Many apparel stores in the Kathmandu Valley have been offering their old stocks with discounts of up to 50 percent to attract customers as sales have been down due to the fuel crisis which has grounded potential shoppers.

“The earthquake had hit our summer business, and now the unrest in the Tarai has affected sales of winter wear. We are not able to produce clothes as per demand and ship them to retail outlets across the country,” said Ishwar Gautam, head of the garment business at Surya Nepal, which manufactures the Springwood and John Players brands of clothes.

He added that the company would not see the expected growth this year. However, he said that the company had launched part of a new range of winter clothing and sales had started picking up with the start of the winter season.  

Some traders have started bringing clothes by air cargo after the land routes were disrupted due to the Tarai agitation. “Although around 50 percent of the ordered goods are stranded at Birgunj Customs, we have just brought a shipment of new winter clothing by rerouting it through Bhairahawa,” said Nishi Sharma, manager of Monte Carlo Showroom at Civil Mall. He added that the flow of customers had also increased with the temperature dropping in the last few days.

Ram Pyakurel, showroom manager of Giordano on Durbar Marg, said that clothes sales were down 20-30 percent compared to last year.

“As people’s incomes have declined massively after the blockade, they are putting off buying new winter clothes and buying only basic needs,” he said. The showroom brings clothes from Hong Kong by air.