"Tiruppur garment orders drop 15% as US, Europe demand weakens amid Iran War", 9 April 2026

Orders from the US and Europe for Tiruppur's apparel manufacturers fell 15% in March compared with a year earlier, as buyers in those markets could not clear their existing inventory due to weak demand amid inflation worries..Demand from West Asia, meanwhile, stopped after the start of the Iran war, they said.

The war has disrupted a key maritime corridor and drove up oil prices, as well as freight rates and insurance premiums, fanning inflation across the world...

"Our raw material cost has gone up by 15% and the buyers are not ready to pay higher prices, as they are anticipating fuel shortage and energy shortage in their own countries...," Tiruppur Exporters Association president KM Subramanian said.

"Not only new orders, the US and European buyers are not willing to pick up garments for their earlier contracts as well," he said. "They are negotiating hard to bring down the price. Demand from the Gulf countries has come to a grinding halt due to the ongoing war."

Textile hubs such as Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu are seeing order deferments and rising logistics costs as Gulf buyers turn cautious, said Mohan Ramaswamy, founder and chief executive of Rubix Data Science...

“...exporters and importers are facing a sharp increase in financing needs. Working capital requirements have risen because shipments are taking longer and payments are getting delayed,” he said. “Export credit demand has increased, and the cost of managing currency risk has also gone up due to higher rupee volatility and elevated hedging premiums. Importers are seeing a direct rise in hedging costs, which feeds back into pricing and financing decisions.”...