TNAG-0153-FCO40-189-Exports-of-cotton-textiles-to-Canada-1969 — Page 56

Production

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Canadian production figures for cotton/man-made blends (that is, 1 - cotton) are as follows:

1966

1967

1968 thousand dozen

831

94%

242

375

Polyester/cotton blends are not separately recorded, but probably make up a considerable proportion of the total. (N.B. The production figure of 475,000 dozen quoted at the May 1967 talks, which was apparently intended to represent the output of polyester/cotton shirts at that time, seems to have been an over-estimate.)

Hong Kong's share of Canadian total imports of polyester/cotton shirts fell to 30% in the first five months of 1968 (compared with 67% at the time of the May 1967 talks).

It is not possible to work out a consumption figure, given that (a) production figures are not available for 1969, and the 1968 figure does not distinguish between polyester/cotton and other cotton/man-made fibre blends; and (b) no figures are obtainable for polyester/cotton shirt imports before January, 1969. The most that can be said is that if Canadian production of blended shirts has continued to increase, Hong Kong probably now provides a rather smaller proportion of Canadian consumption of polyester/cotton shirts than she did in 1967.