Sporting goods and athletic footwear imports flatten out
The dollar value of sporting goods imported into the U.S. decreased by 0.5% in 2001. Imports also declined by 3.9% from 1997 to 1999, but grew by 7% from 1999 to 2000. These are the main findings of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s (SGMA) newly-released analysis of the US Commerce Department’s statistical data on imports of athletic footwear, jogging/warm-up apparel, and 14 sports equipment categories.
The SGMA reported that the total declared value of U.S. sporting goods imports for 2001 was $8.05 billion compared with $8.09 billion for 2000.
For 2001, total sporting goods equipment imports increased by 3.5%, but athletic footwear declined by 5% and jogging/warm-up apparel imports fell by 3.3%. Total athletic footwear import dollar value totalled $3.82 billion while pairs decreased by 5.5% to 379.6 million. This compares with 401.7 million in 2000. The average price per pair meanwhile declined from $10.07 in 2000 to $10.01 in 2001.
The sports equipment export leaders were mainland China (45.3%), Taiwan (11.6%), Mexico (4.2%), and South Korea (3.8%). China’s share rose from 41.4% to 45.3%, much less than the growth in 2000. Market shares for Taiwan, Mexico, and South Korea all declined from 2000 to 2001. Mainland China was also the dominant exporter of athletic footwear to the U.S. – a market share of 76% of the total dollar value in 2001. China’s share has increased steadily from 1998 (67.4%) to 2001 (76.4%). Market shares for Indonesia and Vietnam also rose in 2001.
