Walmart is increasing imports of goods from India to the U.S. as India seeks to reduce its dependence on China to cut costs and diversify its supply chain.
According to statistics from data firm Import Yeti shared with Reuters, Walmart shipped 25% of its U.S. imports from India between January 2023 and August 2023, up from two in 2018. increased from %. During the same period, 60% of the company’s shipments came from India. Imports from China decreased by 20% compared to 2018.
“We want the best price,” Andrea Albright, Walmart’s executive vice president of procurement, said in an interview. “That means we need resilience in our supply chains. We’re always managing things, from hurricanes and earthquakes to raw material shortages, so we can’t rely on one supplier or geography for our products. you can’t.”
Albright added that India has emerged as a key part of Walmart’s manufacturing capacity expansion efforts.
Walmart has been expanding its presence in India since acquiring a 77% stake in e-commerce company Flipkart in 2018. Walmart announced in 2020 a commitment to import $10 billion in goods annually from India by 2027, a goal Albright said the company still plans to meet. Currently, Walmart imports approximately $3 billion worth of goods from India each year.
Supply chain experts said rising costs of transporting goods from China are contributing to the shift to India. But rising wages are also a factor.
“Rising labor costs relative to other manufacturing locations make sourcing from mainland China less competitive,” said Chris Rogers, research analyst at Panjiva, S&P Global Market Intelligence’s supply chain analysis group. “I am doing so,” he said.