Gildan Moves Mexico Textile Operations to Central America and Caribbean Basin

MONTREAL-Gildan unveils plans to move its textile and sewing production from Mexico to Central America and the Caribbean Basin. The company shared the news as part of its third-quarter earnings report on Oct. 31.

In its third-quarter report, the company also cites $740 million of sales were down 2% compared to third-quarter 2018, which it attributes to “weak sales of activewear in the imprintables channel” both domestically and internationally. Gildan had signaled potential dips in sales in its preliminary report issued earlier in October.

For the transition of the Mexico facilities, Gildan says this move is primarily aimed at streamlining its supply chain and optimizing efficiency. “As part of these initiatives, at the end of October, we decided to move forward with plans for the closure of our textile and sewing operations in Mexico and the relocation of the equipment at these facilities to our operations in Central America and the Caribbean Basin,” the company states.

Gildan says it is also considering other avenues to “reduce costs and enhance the execution of our growth drivers, including reducing complexity in certain areas of our business.” As part of that initiative, the company states it is assessing phasing out its direct ship-to-the-piece imprintables business. “This would allow us to continue to focus on our distributor business, simplify our product offering, and reduce costs,” the company contends.

Read the full earnings report here.