Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

With the slowing down of my country's epidemic situation and the normalization of prevention and control, as well as the continuous release of the dividends of stabilizing foreign trade policies, it has provided strong support for the growth of my country's textile exports. The world economy is hesitating on the road to recovery. The epidemic has repeatedly slowed down and rebounded around the world. Affected by the epidemic, India, Vietnam and other textile and apparel producing countries have blocked orders, and some orders have been transferred to my country. In the first half of 2021, my country's textile and apparel exports hit the same period in history. The highest level.

According to my country’s monthly customs report, in the first half of 2021, my country’s textile and apparel exports were US$140.09 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%. The scale of textile and apparel exports not only exceeded the level of the same period in 2019 before the epidemic, but also set a record for the same period in history.

01

Part of the orders are concentrated in my country, and clothing exports have increased significantly. There have been multiple epidemics around the world. my country can still supply clothing products steadily. International orders have tended to be concentrated in my country. At the same time, demand in the European and American markets has gradually recovered. Therefore, my country's clothing exports are accelerating. In the first half of the year, my country’s apparel product exports amounted to US$71.53 billion, a year-on-year increase of 40.3%, which was the highest export value in the same period since 2016; apparel accounted for 51.1% of the total textile and apparel exports, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from 2020. Changes in the proportion of clothing before the epidemic.

Changes in the export structure of textiles and clothing in recent years

Data source: China Customs

From the perspective of export markets, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and ASEAN are the top four markets for my country’s clothing exports. In the first half of the year, clothing exports to these four major markets were 16.88 billion U.S. dollars, 13.36 billion U.S. dollars, 6.80 billion U.S. dollars, and 5.84 billion U.S. dollars, increasing year-on-year. 65.7%, 30.0%, 14.6% and 42.1%.

Take the United States, the largest export market, as an example. According to U.S. customs import data, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia accounted for an increasing share of the U.S. apparel market in the past ten years. However, under the influence of the epidemic, imports from four countries were made from January to May this year. Clothing accounted for 19.7%, 8.8%, 5.9% and 5.5% of the U.S. apparel import market respectively, a slight decrease from the same period last year, down 0.4, 0.6, 0.1 and 1.3 percentage points respectively. my country accounted for 19.9% of the US apparel import market, an increase of 0.6% over the same period last year.

02

The demand for anti-epidemic products has decreased, and the export of textiles has fallen. With the changes in the global epidemic situation, the demand for anti-epidemic materials has fallen sharply, and the reduction in the demand for masks has dragged down my country's textile exports. In the first half of the year, my country's textile exports were US$68.56 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.4%.

Among them, the export value of textile products (including masks) under customs number 63079000 was US$6.92 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 78.8%. The proportion of this product in my country's textile exports dropped to 10.1%, while the export of this product in the same period last year was US$32.63 billion, accounting for 44.1%.

Affected by the outbreak in the first quarter of last year, my country’s textile exports showed a quarterly low since 2015, with exports of only US$26.90 billion; by the second quarter, affected by the surge in global demand for epidemic prevention materials, the quarterly exports of textiles reached a historical high, reaching 51.43 billion. Dollar. Due to the base effect, textile exports in the second quarter of this year fell by 28.5%, but in absolute terms, textile exports in the second quarter of this year were 36.79 billion U.S. dollars, still higher than every quarter in 2019 before the epidemic.

Comparison chart of quarterly exports of textiles in the past two years

Data source: China Customs

03

Excluding the factor of masks, the export of major commodities in the industrial chain has increased. From the perspective of the industrial chain, the rapid decline in the export of textile products (including masks) under my country's customs tariff number 63079000 is an important factor in the decline in textile exports in the first half of this year.

If masks are excluded, textile exports in the first half of the year have achieved a positive growth of 49.0%. In addition, the exports of major commodities such as chemical fibers, yarns, fabrics and textile machinery in the industrial chain have all increased. The continuous recovery of the global economy has led to an increase in external demand, which has boosted the export of my country's textile products.

Export table of major commodities in my country's textile industry chain in the first half of 2021

Data source: China Customs

04

Demand continues to recover, and the main export markets are active. Although the epidemic continues to repeat, international demand is still growing. In addition, excluding the factor of masks, my country's textile and apparel exports to major trading partners have achieved positive growth.

From the perspective of the top five textile and apparel export markets, they are the United States, ASEAN, EU, Japan, and South Korea. The five major textile and apparel export markets in the first half of the year were 24.64 billion U.S. dollars, 22.47 billion U.S. dollars, 20.59 billion U.S. dollars, 9.47 billion U.S. dollars, and 4.42 billion U.S. dollars. ; Year-on-year growth of 12.2%, 35.7%, -20.0%, -8.4%, 18.5% respectively. Excluding the export value of unlisted textile products (customs tariff number 63079000, including masks), these five major markets have achieved positive growth year-on-year, increasing by 63.4%, 42.2%, 31.0%, 14.7% and 32.4% respectively.

The proportion of textile and apparel export market in the first half of the year

Data source: China Customs

The United States is my country's largest export market for textiles and apparel. In the first half of the year, one-fifth of the end products of the industrial chain were exported to the United States. In addition to 16.88 billion US dollars of clothing exports to the United States, there are 6.93 billion US dollars of textile products exported to the United States, accounting for 23.5% and 22.4% of the clothing and textile products export market respectively. According to data from the Textile and Apparel Office of the US Department of Commerce, the US imported US$10.15 billion in textiles and apparel from my country from January to May 2021, a year-on-year increase of 32.3%, and continues to occupy the largest source of imports in the US market.

With the development of the textile industry in Southeast Asia and South Asia, the demand for the front-end products of my country's textile industry chain continues to increase. In the first half of this year, my country's largest export market for textile yarns and textile fabrics was firmly ranked by ASEAN. Textile yarn exports to ASEAN were 1.29 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, accounting for 19.2% of the textile yarn export market. Textile fabric exports to ASEAN reached US$10.68 billion, an increase of 41.6% year-on-year, accounting for 51.4% of the textile fabric export market.

Most of the 27 EU countries are developed economies, and like the United States, there is a strong demand for the end products of my country's textile industry chain. In the first half of this year, the European Union took the second place in my country's clothing and textile products exports. Clothing exports to the EU were 13.36 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 18.7% of China's clothing export market; textile products exports to the EU were 5.20 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 10.7% of the textile products export market. .

In the first half of the year, the Japanese market occupies the third place in China's clothing export market and the fourth place in the textile product market. The export of clothing to Japan was US$6.80 billion, accounting for 9.5% of our clothing export market; the export of textile products to Japan was US$2.34 billion, accounting for 4.8% of the export market of textile products. According to Japanese customs statistics, Japan imported 981.7 billion yen (approximately US$8.99 billion) of Chinese textiles and clothing in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 15.9%, accounting for 54.5% of Japan's imported textiles and clothing market.

05

Strong growth in the western region, rapid growth in Fujian and Shandong. In the first half of the year, the export of textiles and clothing in the western region of my country grew strongly, and the export in the eastern region achieved growth. Specifically, in the first half of the year, the western region exported 6.96 billion US dollars of textiles and apparel, an increase of 30.2% year-on-year, accounting for 4.9% of my country's textile and apparel export market; the eastern region exported US$121.49 billion, an increase of 13.5% year-on-year, accounting for 86.7% of my country's textile and apparel export market. The export of the central region was US$10.13 billion, a decrease of 4.2% year-on-year; the export of the three northeastern provinces was US$1.78 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11.6%.

Looking at the top five export provinces and cities, Fujian, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu all have double-digit growth in exports of textiles and garments. The five provinces and cities are Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, and Fujian in order of export value. Textiles and garments exported 36.78 billion U.S. dollars, 22.66 billion U.S. dollars, 21.71 billion U.S. dollars, 13.53 billion U.S. dollars, and 12.23 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.6% and 11.3 billion U.S. dollars respectively. %, 4.5%, 28.0% and 35.8%.

06

Exports face many challenges throughout the year. The epidemic is still spreading globally, the recovery of the world economy is unstable and uneven, and the external environment facing my country's textile exports is complicated.

The world economic recovery is uneven. With the promotion of vaccines and the unremitting efforts of various countries to restore the economy, the world economy is picking up faster, and international organizations have raised their expectations for world economic and trade growth. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the "World Economic Outlook Report" in July, predicting that the global economy will grow by 6% in 2021, which is the same as the previous forecast. However, the IMF respectively raised its growth forecasts for developed economies by 0.5 percentage points to 5.6%, and lowered its growth forecasts for emerging markets and developing economies by 0.4 percentage points to 6.3%. The World Trade Organization (WTO) latest "Trade Statistics and Prospects" report pointed out that world trade will usher in a strong but uneven recovery, and global trade is expected to increase by 8% in 2021.

Uncertainty in the development of the global epidemic has increased. According to data from the World Health Organization, the Delta mutant strain has appeared in more than 120 economies around the world, and the spread of the mutant strain is surprisingly fast. But on the one hand, the vaccine still has a protective effect on the Delta mutant strain, and countries are also advancing the process of vaccination. On the other hand, the current round of the epidemic has not brought a significant increase in deaths. Therefore, although the rise of the epidemic caused by the Delta mutant strain may interfere with the process of economic recovery to a certain extent, it will not interrupt the trend of economic recovery in developed countries.

The cost pressure of textile foreign trade enterprises has increased. Although the epidemic is still spreading all over the world, the global supply chain has been hit, and the efficiency of port operations has dropped sharply, the demand for container transportation in the market is recovering. According to Clarkson's forecast, global shipping demand will increase by 6.1% year-on-year in 2021. With the active container transportation market, international freight rates have increased substantially. According to the Drewry World Container Index, the spot price of a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Los Angeles rose to US$10,503 at the end of July, a 258% increase year-on-year, which increased the cost pressure on textile foreign trade companies and squeezed profits.

In addition, external risks such as the reshaping of the industrial chain, trade order and political structure caused by non-economic factors facing the textile industry’s exports are still relatively obvious.