Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

Recently, the China Cotton Textile Industry Association released tracking data on "key enterprises" and "key clusters", which showed that in April 2023, macroeconomic policies were coordinated and the economic operation continued to recover. From January to April, the main economic indicators of the cotton textile industry improved compared to January to March. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

The cotton textile industry is a key industry for stabilizing employment, foreign trade, people's livelihoods, and stability. Dong Kuiyong, President of the China Cotton Textile Industry Association, stated that this year, facing heavy pressure, the industry has achieved a good start, production and sales have stabilized and rebounded, and there have been positive changes in various aspects. With the country's efforts to expand domestic demand, prioritizing the recovery and expansion of consumption, and the combined support of stock policies and incremental policies, the overall operational situation of China's cotton textile industry is expected to rebound.

Industry development is stabilizing and improving

The sales of cotton textile products dominated by foreign trade are greatly affected by the complex and severe global macroeconomic situation. Inflation pressure, interest rate increase cycle, geopolitical conflict and other factors continue to affect the global economy, thus affecting the demand for terminal cotton products. However, multiple economic indicators in the cotton textile industry are gradually improving.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, from January to April this year, the main economic indicators of the "key enterprises" in the cotton textile industry, such as operating revenue, export delivery value, total profit, and industrial added value, have narrowed compared to the cumulative decline from January to March, and the revenue profit margin indicators have increased.

Dong Kuiyong believes that the current export pressure in the cotton textile industry is relatively obvious, but it is expected that the export market orders will gradually increase in the second half of the year, and the decline in industry exports will gradually narrow. Against the backdrop of export pressure, the domestic market will play a more significant role as a "ballast stone" for the stable development of the textile industry, and it will be a key force supporting the recovery of the industry's economic operation.

Since May, domestic cotton prices have continued their upward trend in April, and the rate of increase has accelerated. According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, on May 24th, the average spot price of China's cotton price index 3128B grade lint was 16658 yuan/ton, an increase of 1104 yuan/ton or 7.1% compared to April 28th, setting a new high for the current year.

In this context, the cotton textile industry chain prices have also emerged from a resonance upward trend. Several listed companies in the industry chain have stated that short-term fluctuations in cotton prices will not have a significant impact, but whether they can form long-term support for product prices depends on the demand from end consumers.

The significant reduction in cotton production in the new year and the expected increase in production reduction due to adverse weather conditions are considered the basis for the increase in cotton prices. Wu Jingwen, an analyst at CITIC Futures, said that the cotton planting area in Xinjiang is expected to decrease this year, and the cotton yield per unit area may also decrease. This year, the temperature in Xinjiang is low, and abnormal weather in many areas has led to multiple replanting and replanting of cotton. The growth progress of cotton in Xinjiang is generally slow, which may have adverse effects on cotton yield per unit area.

In addition, textile enterprises actively produce and catch up with orders, which has also formed a strong demand for cotton and provided a good foundation for the rise in cotton prices. From the demand side, since April, downstream demand has continued to slowly rebound, and the operating load of cotton textile enterprises continues to increase.

From the perspective of major production provinces, the situation in the textile industry is showing a trend of stabilizing and improving. Yang Runkai, Executive Chairman of the Henan Textile Industry Association, stated that despite facing multiple challenges and downward pressure, industry enterprises are still striving to overcome various difficulties and impacts, and the overall recovery and development trend has continued since the beginning of this year. The improvement is mainly manifested in several aspects: firstly, the ability of enterprises to resist market risks is significantly enhanced; secondly, the level of technological equipment is constantly improving; thirdly, the level of industrial cluster aggregation is constantly improving; fourthly, the green and low-carbon transformation is accelerating.

Take the Road of Winning with Quality

With the coexistence of industry development opportunities and risks and challenges, as well as many uncertain factors, the cotton textile industry needs to promote high-quality development by establishing a sense of quality first, promoting quality change, efficiency change, and power change, and striving to take the path of winning development with quality.

In this process, it is necessary for technological innovation to play the role of the primary driving force, and for product quality to play a fundamental and supportive role in meeting the market. We hope that more enterprises that dare to venture, try, and innovate will continue to explore and bring new valuable practices, "said Dong Kuiyong.

Quality change is crucial. Differentiated products vary greatly due to differences in fabrics, functions, uses, and specifications, making quality control challenging. To ensure user satisfaction with quality, it is necessary to fully control the process quality and achieve personalized process technology. "Wang Ningning, Chairman of Jiangsu Wuxi Four Cotton Textile Co., Ltd., stated that only product quality that reaches users' hands and is satisfactory is truly qualified quality, Satisfactory product quality requires assurance throughout the entire production and sales process.

Digitalization drives efficiency change. Ma Xiumin, director of the Xiajin County Bureau of Industry and Information Technology of Dezhou, Shandong Province, mentioned that many local entrepreneurs now realize that if they want to develop better, they must seamlessly connect with the terminal brand needs as much as possible. This has promoted the local digital "make-up": to solve the "deaf, dumb and blind" problem of equipment and materials by installing sensors, code scanning guns, display screens, etc., and to help enterprises achieve the interconnection of production, procurement and sales data through two software systems, MES (Manufacturing Enterprise Production Information Management System) and ERP (Enterprise resource planning Management System).

The proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises in the light industry and textile industry is high. Currently, many enterprises are facing the problem of not completing the old organizational courses, and new organizational courses such as lean are imminent. "Song Yidong, an expert hired by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, said that in this process, entrepreneurs need to quickly complete the transformation of their roles, especially by using information technology concepts to guide the innovation of production and management concepts.

Innovation brings vitality. "Traditional industries want to keep up with the Market trend without the help of new technologies." Cai Jinnan, Vice Chairman of Dezhou Hengfeng Group, reviewed the exploration of enterprises in independent research and development of functional yarn: pearl fiber, milk fiber, submicron fiber, seaweed fiber... It is these functional and differentiated cotton textile products that make enterprises perform relatively well when the overall cotton textile market is weak.

Wang Yangjun, director of the National Cotton Textile Science and Technology Information Center, believes that cotton textile enterprises should increase technology supply, speed up product quality upgrading, constantly carry out market demand research activities, increase the application of new raw materials and Product development, carry out benchmarking and upgrading actions for key products Resource efficiency, and establish a green orientation for quality development.

Yu Jianyong, an academician of the CAE Member, president of Donghua University, and chief expert of the China Cotton Textile Industry Association, said that China has become the country with the largest yarn production, the most widely used fiber, and the most complete product variety in the world, and high-quality cotton textiles represented by yarn dyed yarn, high-grade shirt yarn dyed fabric, high-grade Denim, etc. are leading the world. China's cotton textile technology innovation has entered a stage of coexistence from "following and running together" to "leading and running together". Green production has made positive progress, and fashion development has entered a healthy track. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Accelerate the construction of industrial system

The first meeting of the 20th Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission recently stressed that we should accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system supported by the real economy, and made a series of important arrangements.

Zong Ruilong, Deputy Director of the Textile Department of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and a second level researcher, stated that the correct deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council has pointed out the direction for the development of the textile industry and strengthened confidence. He suggested combining expanding market demand with deepening supply side structural reform, and combining innovation driven development with improving the resilience and security level of the industrial chain supply chain; We will combine the protection of basic people's livelihood with the promotion of consumption, and combine the inheritance of excellent traditional culture with the dissemination of modern fashion; Integrate the improvement of productivity with the promotion of high-quality employment.

Dong Kuiyong proposed that the cotton textile industry will continue to implement key tasks from six aspects in the next step: improving the coordination of industrial development, promoting the upgrading of industrial foundation and modernization of industrial chain, strengthening scientific and technological innovation support, improving the level of green development, enhancing product fashion performance, and building strong human resources.

As for the green development of cotton textile enterprises, Yan Yan, director of the Social Responsibility Office of the China Textile manufacturing Federation, pointed out that enterprises should seize the new opportunity of the "double carbon" strategy to implement strategic transformation, formulate the "double carbon" plan, clarify the goals, layout in advance, put the concept of green development through the whole process of production and operation, improve the innovation ability in green materials, green technology, green products, low-carbon management, and gradually achieve green and low-carbon development, Form a new competitive advantage centered on green value.

I hope that the cotton textile industry will always adhere to the determination of manufacturing industry, "Yu Jianyong said. Cotton textile enterprises should adhere to consolidating the foundation, optimizing layout, and cluster development, with technological innovation and talent construction as the guarantee. From the three dimensions of" product quality improvement, innovation upgrading, and industrial upgrading ", we will continue to promote high-level technological self-reliance and self-improvement, and continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries, Continue to enhance the level of advanced industrial foundation and modernization of the industrial chain, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, and achieve the high-end, intelligent, green, and fashionable development of the cotton textile industry. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.