Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

Influenced by the strong demand in emerging markets, the end of destocking in Wet market, the low base of last year and other factors, China's household textiles showed a recovery trend in the first four months of this year, the decline in exports to the United States, Europe and Japan's Wet market narrowed, and the export performance of the Yangtze River Delta region improved.

Exports continue to maintain rapid growth in April

Customs data shows that in the first four months, China's cumulative export of household textiles reached 10.47 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%. In April, exports reached 2.96 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 26%, continuing the strong trend of 27.6% export growth in March. Compared to the overall decline of 3.9% in China's home textile exports last year, there are signs of recovery and recovery in China's home textile exports this year.

ASEAN has become China's second largest home textile export market

The top four markets for China's home textile exports are the United States, ASEAN, the European Union, and Japan. Exports to the United States in the first four months amounted to 3.01 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 8.4%; Exports to ASEAN reached 1.54 billion US dollars, a significant increase of 48.1% year-on-year; Exports to the European Union reached 1.17 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 12.4%; Exports to Japan amounted to $840 million, a year-on-year decrease of 3.3%. ASEAN has surpassed the European Union to become the second largest market for China's home textile exports.

According to customs data, China's exports to the United States, the European Union and Japan increased by 10.2%, 16% and 8.2% respectively in April, driving the cumulative decline of China's exports to Wet market to a certain extent.

In the first four months, exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 3.15 billion US dollars, up 38.8% year on year. Exports to Australia reached $450 million, a year-on-year increase of 16.6%. Exports to the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Middle East reached 510 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 24%. Exports to the five Central Asian countries reached 230 million US dollars, a significant increase of 91.4% year-on-year. Exports to Latin America reached $550 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. Exports to Africa reached $490 million, a year-on-year increase of 28.6%.

The export of major commodities is showing a recovery trend

Customs data shows that the main categories of products with rapid growth in the first four months include kitchen supplies, carpets, and tablecloths. Among them, the export of kitchen supplies reached 1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%, the export of carpets reached 1.4 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19.1%, and the export of tablecloths reached 230 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 15.1%; The export value of bedding, blankets, and towels was 4.53 billion US dollars, 1.02 billion US dollars, and 790 million US dollars respectively, all maintaining a small growth rate of 3-8%; The decline in exports of curtains and other decorative products has decreased compared to the previous month, with 4% and 1.6% respectively.

The export performance of provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta has improved

Guangdong's leading export growth

Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, and Shanghai are ranked among the top 5 provinces and cities in China for home textile exports. In the first four months, Zhejiang's exports reached 3.09 billion US dollars, a slight increase of 1.8%; Jiangsu and Shandong's exports were 2.02 billion US dollars and 1.45 billion US dollars respectively, a decrease of 7.9% and 3%, with a narrowing of the decline; Guangdong's exports reached 980 million US dollars, a significant increase of 45.8%, mainly due to the rapid growth of exports to the markets of Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia; Shanghai's exports reached 580 million US dollars, a decrease of 8.3%. Among other regions, Fujian, Hunan, and Xinjiang have experienced rapid export growth, with growth rates of 58.5%, 1 time, and 2.1 times, respectively.

China's market share in the United States and Europe has declined

Stable market share in Japan

Customs data shows that from January to March, the import of home textile products from the United States reached 3.52 billion US dollars, a decrease of 25.9%. Among them, imports from China decreased by 36%, accounting for 37.9%, a decrease of 5.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In the same period, US imports from India, Pakistan, Türkiye and Vietnam decreased by 19.2%, 14.7%, 30.8% and 33.4% respectively, all of which were lower than those from China. Among the main sources of imports, only imports from Mexico increased by 16.6%.

From January to March, the EU imported home textile products worth 2.34 billion US dollars, a decrease of 22.8%. Among them, imports from China decreased by 32.8%, accounting for 32.3%, a decrease of 4.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In the same period, EU imports from Pakistan and Türkiye decreased by 10.2% and 18.2% respectively, and imports from India and Bangladesh decreased by 26%, both lower than China.

Customs data shows that from January to March, Japan imported $770 million in home textile products, a decrease of 6%. Among them, imports from China decreased by 6.7%, accounting for 73.2%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year. During the same period, Japan's imports from Vietnam increased by 1.4%, while imports from India, Thailand, and Bangladesh decreased by 28.2%, 12.6%, and 18.4%, respectively.

Through comprehensive analysis, the reasons for the rapid growth of China's home textile exports in April are: first, the low base number caused by the epidemic in the same period last year; second, the centralized shipment of some accumulated orders in the early stage; third, the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce exports to make up for the decline of traditional trade; fourth, the rapid growth of emerging markets such as ASEAN, Central Asia and other regions to make up for the declining export share of Wet market such as the United States, Europe and Japan, so as to maintain the stability of China's overall export scale of home textiles.

From the international market perspective, the retail sales of furniture and home furnishings in the United States continued to decline in April, with a decrease of 0.7% compared to the previous month and a decrease of 6.4% compared to the same period last year. Moreover, home inventory has rebounded for two consecutive months. The operating conditions of major retailers are also not optimistic, with BedBath&Beyond, an American home furnishings retailer, declaring bankruptcy; The domestic and international market revenue of home e-commerce Wayfair has significantly decreased, with a 5% decrease in domestic market revenue and a 20.4% decrease in international market revenue; The discount chain group TJX's Marmaxx division in the United States saw a 3.4% decrease in household goods sales and a 7% decrease in sales at Homegoods stores. The continuous sluggish demand in the US home textile market and the continuous reduction of China's market share in developed countries will still bring certain pressure to the stable scale of China's home textile exports. In the future, China's home textile export enterprises should actively explore diversified markets, strengthen attention to emerging markets such as ASEAN, deepen market demand, optimize product structure, and achieve healthy and sustainable development of China's home textile foreign trade.