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Chinese Clothing Imports on the Rise In Iraq
Posted on 30 October 2013
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Abu Ahmad blows puffs of smoke from his cigarette into the air while standing in front of a pile of used clothes he has spread out on the ground in Bab al-Sharqi, Baghdad. He admits to having experienced material losses recently due to a lack of clients. In fact, he does not make more than $600 per month from this trade, compared with double this amount in previous years.
“The new, cheap, ready-to-wear clothing that is imported from China and India is drowning the markets,” Ahmad told Al-Monitor. Meanwhile, his fellow traders provide additional reasons, such as the “security chaos” that prevents many people from shopping.
Ahmad is expanding his collection of used clothes with new and cheap items that are imported from Chinese merchants. He will put them on display by next week.
The trade of secondhand clothing has pervaded the Iraqi market in Baghdad and other cities since 2003. Before then, their presence was limited to flea markets. On the other hand, massive amounts of ready-to-wear clothing are being imported from China, Turkey and other countries. Economist Toufiq al-Iraqi told Al-Monitor, “Many Iraqi citizens embrace a negative, lavish consumer culture, which stems from an increase in personal income.”
Mohammad al-Saidi, the owner of a shop that he transformed from a center for selling worn-out material to a shop selling imported and cheap ready-to-wear clothes, said, “The markets are still packed not only with used clothes, but also with many used appliances and tools coming from Europe.”
Saidi told Al-Monitor that there has been tangible improvement in individual purchasing power, which has led to a change in consumption patterns. Consequently, individuals now desire high-quality new goods instead of used ones.
“While previously the price of a Chinese shirt was higher than that of a used one, the price difference has become insignificant today to the extent that the buyer prefers to wear new rather than old clothes,” Saidi added.
Sociologist Rahim al-Taee, however, told Al-Monitor, “The Iraqi people believe that owning used clothes is shameful, and they are careful not to be seen wandering around the flea markets. They only visit them when they really need to.”
Zahra, an Iraqi teacher from Babel, told Al-Monitor that in early 2003 she shopped in flea markets, but she stopped doing that because of the diseases that spread there. “For example, one of my students wore a used outfit that caused her skin to break out in a rash,” she noted.
According to Zahra, “The time has come for these shoddy shops to close down and to ban the import of such cheap goods, in order to preserve the health of citizens and in respect of their dignity.”
Zahra’s proposal, however, has no meaning for those with a very low income, such as construction worker Ali Hassan.
Speaking to Al-Monitor, Hassan noted that he “can save a lot of money by shopping at the flea market, where I can buy many items at a good price.”
Most Iraqi cities are riddled with flea markets and shops selling secondhand clothing. However, in light of the huge import of new ready-to-wear clothes — especially from China, southeast Asia and neighboring countries — used clothes are not as common as they were before on the market.
Kamel Jabouri, a women’s clothing salesman, told Al-Monitor, “Imported, ready-to-wear clothes are not of high quality. Conditions on imported clothes should be set to save Iraqi consumers from many troubles.”
“Iraqi citizens, however, have shown distaste for used clothes and have refused to buy them, even in periods when there was an economic blockade,” he added.
Koutaiba Ahmed is an Iraqi wholesaler who holds Belgian citizenship and works in flea-market clothing sales. He told Al-Monitor, “Secondhand clothes come from Europe, which is characterized by large industrial production and where volunteers collect old clothes from families and donate them to charities. These charities sell them to traders, who export them to poor countries, where local merchants receive them in sealed, compressed packages.”
Shop owners do not stick to the spaces allotted to them to display their commodities, as one can see piles of clothes spread out on sidewalks and picked through by poor and low-income shoppers.
Salim Hussein, a trader in used clothes, told Al-Monitor that his commodities are of good quality and “mostly new,” but are classified as “secondhand” since they are out of fashion in Europe.
According to traders, the main source of used clothes is neighboring countries, especially Jordan. The clothes are first imported from countries such as France, the Netherlands and Germany and then imported via land borders to Iraq.
Kamel al-Asadi, an Iraqi health specialist, told Al-Monitor that the used-clothes trade could be classified as an “illegitimate” trade, as it does not meet health standards.
Asadi is not sure whether the parliamentary Economic Committee’s decision issued at the end of 2012 to ban the import of used clothing will be effective in preventing this trade, as it continues to be popular until now.
Although Iraqi doctors continue to warn against the health risks presented by secondhand clothes, the poor will continue to buy them, as they cannot find any other alternative.
Finally, Laith al-Saadi, the owner of a clothing shop, told Al-Monitor, “The market for secondhand clothing will inevitably come to an end in light of the cheap Chinese commodities invading the markets.”
Adnan Abu Zeed is an Iraqi author and journalist.
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Posted on 30 October 2013
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Abu Ahmad blows puffs of smoke from his cigarette into the air while standing in front of a pile of used clothes he has spread out on the ground in Bab al-Sharqi, Baghdad. He admits to having experienced material losses recently due to a lack of clients. In fact, he does not make more than $600 per month from this trade, compared with double this amount in previous years.
“The new, cheap, ready-to-wear clothing that is imported from China and India is drowning the markets,” Ahmad told Al-Monitor. Meanwhile, his fellow traders provide additional reasons, such as the “security chaos” that prevents many people from shopping.
Ahmad is expanding his collection of used clothes with new and cheap items that are imported from Chinese merchants. He will put them on display by next week.
The trade of secondhand clothing has pervaded the Iraqi market in Baghdad and other cities since 2003. Before then, their presence was limited to flea markets. On the other hand, massive amounts of ready-to-wear clothing are being imported from China, Turkey and other countries. Economist Toufiq al-Iraqi told Al-Monitor, “Many Iraqi citizens embrace a negative, lavish consumer culture, which stems from an increase in personal income.”
Mohammad al-Saidi, the owner of a shop that he transformed from a center for selling worn-out material to a shop selling imported and cheap ready-to-wear clothes, said, “The markets are still packed not only with used clothes, but also with many used appliances and tools coming from Europe.”
Saidi told Al-Monitor that there has been tangible improvement in individual purchasing power, which has led to a change in consumption patterns. Consequently, individuals now desire high-quality new goods instead of used ones.
“While previously the price of a Chinese shirt was higher than that of a used one, the price difference has become insignificant today to the extent that the buyer prefers to wear new rather than old clothes,” Saidi added.
Sociologist Rahim al-Taee, however, told Al-Monitor, “The Iraqi people believe that owning used clothes is shameful, and they are careful not to be seen wandering around the flea markets. They only visit them when they really need to.”
Zahra, an Iraqi teacher from Babel, told Al-Monitor that in early 2003 she shopped in flea markets, but she stopped doing that because of the diseases that spread there. “For example, one of my students wore a used outfit that caused her skin to break out in a rash,” she noted.
According to Zahra, “The time has come for these shoddy shops to close down and to ban the import of such cheap goods, in order to preserve the health of citizens and in respect of their dignity.”
Zahra’s proposal, however, has no meaning for those with a very low income, such as construction worker Ali Hassan.
Speaking to Al-Monitor, Hassan noted that he “can save a lot of money by shopping at the flea market, where I can buy many items at a good price.”
Most Iraqi cities are riddled with flea markets and shops selling secondhand clothing. However, in light of the huge import of new ready-to-wear clothes — especially from China, southeast Asia and neighboring countries — used clothes are not as common as they were before on the market.
Kamel Jabouri, a women’s clothing salesman, told Al-Monitor, “Imported, ready-to-wear clothes are not of high quality. Conditions on imported clothes should be set to save Iraqi consumers from many troubles.”
“Iraqi citizens, however, have shown distaste for used clothes and have refused to buy them, even in periods when there was an economic blockade,” he added.
Koutaiba Ahmed is an Iraqi wholesaler who holds Belgian citizenship and works in flea-market clothing sales. He told Al-Monitor, “Secondhand clothes come from Europe, which is characterized by large industrial production and where volunteers collect old clothes from families and donate them to charities. These charities sell them to traders, who export them to poor countries, where local merchants receive them in sealed, compressed packages.”
Shop owners do not stick to the spaces allotted to them to display their commodities, as one can see piles of clothes spread out on sidewalks and picked through by poor and low-income shoppers.
Salim Hussein, a trader in used clothes, told Al-Monitor that his commodities are of good quality and “mostly new,” but are classified as “secondhand” since they are out of fashion in Europe.
According to traders, the main source of used clothes is neighboring countries, especially Jordan. The clothes are first imported from countries such as France, the Netherlands and Germany and then imported via land borders to Iraq.
Kamel al-Asadi, an Iraqi health specialist, told Al-Monitor that the used-clothes trade could be classified as an “illegitimate” trade, as it does not meet health standards.
Asadi is not sure whether the parliamentary Economic Committee’s decision issued at the end of 2012 to ban the import of used clothing will be effective in preventing this trade, as it continues to be popular until now.
Although Iraqi doctors continue to warn against the health risks presented by secondhand clothes, the poor will continue to buy them, as they cannot find any other alternative.
Finally, Laith al-Saadi, the owner of a clothing shop, told Al-Monitor, “The market for secondhand clothing will inevitably come to an end in light of the cheap Chinese commodities invading the markets.”
Adnan Abu Zeed is an Iraqi author and journalist.
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