Usa: international sunglass trade rebounds

The latest Vca's International Optical Trade Analysis (Iota) indicates that in the first quarter of 2004 the international trade of sunglasses demonstrated a market turn-around.

Following a sluggish market in year-end 2003, U.S. sunglass exports bounced back during the first three months of 2004. Year-to-date data reported the U.S. sunglass exports stood at 4.9 million pairs, a 3.7 percent growth over the same period last year. Sunglass export value, on the other hand, was significantly up by 28.2 percent to $38.5 million. North America remained the biggest destination for U.S. sunglasses, capturing a majority (53.4 percent) of the total U.S. sunglass exports; Canada accounted for the lion's share of 38.4 percent of the total U.S. sunglass exports.

Despite the decline seen in the total volume of U.S. sunglass imports, the total import value remained strong. The U.S. imported a total of 112.4 million pairs of sunglasses during the first quarter of 2004, 6.2 percent below last year. When translated to value, however, total exports were 3.7 percent over the same period last year.