Montreal ? Gildan Activewear says it is currently obtaining information in order
to fully evaluate the impact of the Haiti earthquake on the operations
and employees of its sub-contractors in the country.
Gildan has no vertically-integrated
manufacturing facilities in Haiti,
but uses third party contractors to sew the majority of the fabric produced at
its Dominican Republic
textile facility. Initial indications are that two out of the three contractor
facilities used by Gildan are intact, while the third and smallest contractor
facility has suffered substantial damage. The company?s textile and sewing facilities
in the Dominican Republic
have not been affected by the earthquake.
Gildan?s Dominican
Republic / Haiti
manufacturing hub is currently dedicated to supplying a portion of the company?s basic T-shirt requirements for the US screenprint market.
The company says it is in a strong
inventory position and is immediately implementing contingency plans to
minimize likely short-term disruption of contractor production in Haiti by increasing production at its integrated
sewing facilities in the Dominican Republic,
Honduras and Nicaragua.
Most importantly, Gildan?s management said
it wished to express its concern for the well-being of the people of Haiti.
