Carpet fiber is the material from which carpet strands are produced. Carpeting fibers come in a variety of kinds. Each fiber has its own set of qualities, including unique strengths and weaknesses.
The recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic drop in US commerce. Imports and exports have both dropped by more than 20% compared to 2019. Given that foreign trade flows are typically more unpredictable than local economic activity, this drop may not be too surprising. Large increases in economic activity are usually accompanied by much greater shifts in trade flows.
The only other recent instance of such a drop occurred in early 2009, during the Great Recession. However, the graph above demonstrates a significant difference between the two recessions: Recently, exports have fallen far more than imports, which is the inverse of what happened during the Great Recession.
This disparity might be attributed to the two recessions’ distinct characteristics. During a recession, imports often fall faster than exports, but the COVID-19 pandemic may be an exception: Imports may have declined less than they would have otherwise due to increased demand for imported vital medical supplies to battle the pandemic.
Although tariffs had a part in the reduction in these imports, looking at the monthly charts for both years [2019- 2020], the import patterns were pretty similar period to period, indicating that the drop was likely caused by a pandemic rather than a tariff war impact. USA carpet imports that dwindled in April 2020, swelled up in March 2021 and April 2021. USA imported most of the carpet fiber from India through this whole duration. Imports from India that were worth 65 million USD in April 2020 climbed up to 124 million USD in March 2021 and remained constant in April 2021, giving it 35% global share in the USA carpet fiber imports. Turkey was the second leading exporter of the same to USA during the three months mentioned. Turkey’s exports were 63 million USD in April 2020 that hiked to 106 million USD in March 2021 and remained constant in the following month. Turkey’s share in global USA imports for the same was 30%.
China’s exports to USA have dropped since the Covid 19 pandemic which has also affected its export of carpet fiber. China that was on the top in previous years was on the third position with the exports worth 25 million USD which climbed up to 49 million USD in March 2021 and dwindled again in April 2021 when it dropped to 37 million USD. China’s share of carpet fiber imports in USA was 11%.
Egypt’s share in these exports was 6% as USA imported carpet fibers worth 12 million USD from Egypt in April 2020 that increased to 20 million USD in March 2021 and dropped by 3 million USD in April 2021. Belgium’s export was 9 million USD in April 2020, which declined to 7 million USD in March 2021. Its export was 12 million USD in April 2021. Its share was 4% in carpet fiber imports of the given period.
Vietnam’s exports were 5 million USD in April 2020 which hiked up to 12 million USD in March 2021. Their exports dropped by 2 million USD in April 2021. Its share was 3%. Mexico’s share was 2% with the exports worth 6 million USD in March 2021 and 5 million USD in April 2021 which had increased from 8 lakh USD in April 2020. Canada, Netherland, and Korea’s share was 1% each. Korea’s exports were 12 million USD combined for the month of April 2020, March 2021 and April 2021, which was 2 million USD more than Netherland’s export and 3 million USD more than Canada’s export to USA in the same duration.
