The following excerpt is from an April 2, 2010 article published by ApparelNews.net. To read the article in its entirety, click here.
GUATEMALA CITY—Inside the cinderblock walls of the Los Volcanes knitting mill, located just outside of Guatemala City, the rows of metal machinery are old, but the ownership is new.
In 2008, the mill was called Supratex until a local bank took it over to pay off the company’s debts. The massive machines that turn yarn into fiber stood dormant for nine months until a company called Los Volcanes Group bought the plant at a 60 percent discount and revved up production last fall.
In many ways, Los Volcanes epitomizes the ebb and flow of the Guatemalan apparel and textile industry during the last two years.
With more than 90 percent of its apparel exports going to the United States, Guatemala was hard hit by the U.S. economic recession. After consumers curtailed spending, the Central American country’s apparel exports to the United States declined 21 percent to $1.1 billion in 2009.
But times have changed…
Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read more articles related to the Guatemalan economy.
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