Filipino supplier loses adidas contract
Germany-based sportswear group adidas has decided to terminate its contract with sport shoe manufacturer SS Ventures International in the Philippines. The company said on November 24 that the contract would close at the end of 2009 because of “adverse conditions in the global export market”. Orders will continue to be placed until December 31, although it is possible SS Ventures may be forced to close at the end of this month if it is unable to secure funding.
"We regret that we had to take this action, which has it roots in the current economic crisis," a statement from the adidas Group said.
In other news, adidas has attracted criticism in the US for its decision to make NBA uniforms in Asia. According to reports, the company plans to end its contract with existing suppliers in the US and move production of NBA jerseys to a factory in Thailand.
US Senator Charles Schumer said: “It is flat wrong for Adidas to move the production of jerseys worn by NBA players outside the United States when there are US companies that have done this work so well and for so long. And to do it in this economic climate adds insult to injury. Basketball is a marquee American sport and the NBA is its premier stage. A short-sighted decision to destroy over a hundred years of history by moving production of game jerseys overseas just cannot stand. The jerseys the NBA players wear should be made in the USA, plain and simple."
