Reference
You already have our tables and commentary based on the statistics attached to Mr. Sellers' letter of 10th Jamiary.
The Swedish production figures only go up to September -- that 18, they are nearly four months out of date and the most recent import and export figures we have are for October. I think it would be reasonable to insist that the Swedish case be judged on the period for which we have actual figures; we should not let the Swedes get away with assentions, unsupported by any statistics, about proiuotion trends since September.
It seems to me, on the figures so far presented to us, that Hong Kong has no case to answer on koran jiscontinuang synthetis dress shirts. Certainly total Swedish imports of these chirts grow by over one-third in the first nine months of 1968 compared with the same period of 1967; but S. Krea was responsible for almost the whole of the increase; imports from liong Kon, grew by only 8%, and her share of total importa fell by 174. Despite the decline in Swedish exports, production was 57.5% up; Swedish producers therefore enjoyed a very fair share of the sharp rise in Swedish consumption (up 48.6%). Hong Kong supplied over 6% less of Swedish consumption in those nine months.
The Bundes have now supplied aggregate figuros for the above shirts, knitted contimous synthotic dress shirts and woven cotton shirts. This shows that imports from Hong Kong in the first ten months of 1968 wire at almost precisely the same level as in 1967. Here again, the growth in Swedish imports (of 219,000 shirts) was almost wholly attributable to 3. Korea. Swedish production in the first nine months of 1968 fall by 0.9 m. pieces; but of this, only 0.3 Be W&# attributable to the rise in importa; 0.23 m. resulted from the decline in exports, and 0.37 m. to the drop in consumption. The fall in consumption must be wholly in kmitted shirts or woven cotton shirta, since we know that consumption of discontinuous woven aynthetic shirts shoved a mirked increase last year,
Ün men a woollen sventare, Sweden's main problem seems to be a decline in demand. Consumption fell by nearly 25% between the first nine months of 1967 and the same period of 1968. Production bore the main brunt, with a fall of 48%, despite a rise in the (comparatively insignificant) exports. Total imports foll by 9% and imports from Hong Kong by
Partly no doubt for seasonal reasons, imports from i.k. were exceptionally heavy in October; 122,000 pieces compared with 30,000 pieces in October 1967 (and 30,000 was also the monthly average for Jan.-Sept. 1968). Exports in October were well up just under half the total figure for the first 9 months of the year. We don't know what happened to production, but it seems likely that it rose too, to meet winter demand.
There seems little grounds for complaint in the figures for gomen La continuous synthetic scoraks. Production rose by 32% in the first 9 months of 1968; consumption by 30%; and the (fairly important) exporta trebled. Both total imports and imports from Hong Kong rose (by 40% and 36% respectively); but Hong Kong's share of the market showed only marginal growth. There were heavy imports in October from Hong Kong, but here again there could be seasonal factors at work; the Swedish export figure la high, too.
The Swedes have now analysed the figures for total imports of mens' and Womens' anoraks and jackets of the four wain types (continuous and discontinuous synthetio, cotton, and impregnated). Imports in the first ten months of 1968 wore 515,000 higher than in the previous year; Hong Kong supplied just over half this increase (267,000), Portugal 103,000, and the rest came from unnamed "other" countries. Production of these types in the first nine months of 1968 was alightly up on 1967, and exports were one-third groater than in the previous year, The worst the Swedes could say about the situation is that overseas suppliers rather than domestic producers have benefitted from the increase in consumption in 1968.
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