SPOTLIGHT ON NORTH AMERICA
North American textile care sector faces a cloudy future
Eugene Gerden speaks to European players with long standing interests in the North American market and finds uncertainties fueled by the current trade wars are making them wary – but not enough to make them abandon ship
he years to come look a little stormy due to the ongoing trade wars initiated by the Trump administration with so many nations which has led to a serious decline in the US economy and also created problems for Canada and other North American states. For the US itself, the country’s economy had shown significant growth in recent years. However, the current trade policy has caused the gross domestic product (GDP), which had been experiencing strong growth, to contract in the first quarter for the first time in two years – even before most of the tariffs took effect. Many local economists had already pointed at the existing risks of recession of the US this year, which may have a negative impact on the majority of its industrial sectors, including commercial laundry and drycleaning services. An almost similar situation can be observed in Canada and Mexico, whose laundries and drycleaners have always been dependent on the supplies of cleaning agents, detergents and other industry requisites from the US, supplies of which are now under serious question – at least in the same volumes as in the past.
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The weakening US dollar and the existing risks of recession may also lead to the outflow of foreign investors, including some major laundry and drycleaning operators from the US market and the revision of their investment programmes there. But time will tell.
Traditionally, the North American market has been one of the priority markets for the large global players in the laundry and drycleaning sectors, but now there is a possibility that the situation in the near future may change.
GATHERING CLOUDS: The trade wars initiated by the Trump administration with so many nations have led to a serious decline in the US economy
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One such company is the Spanish Onnera Group, which in recent years has significantly strengthened its position in the US market, where it operates via its subsidiary Domus Laundry. As Dawn Nagle, head of Onnera’s
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