Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

In the first five months, China's textile and apparel exports achieved year-on-year growth. In this regard, analyst Liu Jie believes that due to the transfer of orders and the difficulty in guaranteeing the stability of the supply of domestic textile and apparel raw materials, it is expected that the growth rate of China's textile and apparel exports in the second half of the year may fluctuate.

The latest data released by the General Administration of Customs shows that from January to May, China's textile and apparel exports totaled US$125.067 billion, an increase of 11.18% year-on-year. Among them, China's textile and apparel exports in May were 29.227 billion US dollars, an increase of 20.36% year-on-year and a month-on-month increase of 23.89%, reversing the trend of narrowing growth in April and restoring rapid growth.

The price advantage of China's textile raw materials is the main reason for the year-on-year increase in China's textile and apparel exports in the first five months of this year. "The raw materials of China's textile industry mainly include chemical fibers and natural fibers such as cotton, wool, hemp, and silk. At present, China's chemical fiber production capacity is growing steadily, the supply is stable, and it has a price advantage compared with natural fibers. At the same time, the price of domestic cotton is higher than that of foreign cotton. The price is also lower by more than 4,000 yuan / ton." Liu Jie said.

In addition, the depreciation of the renminbi is also an important factor in the growth of China's textile and apparel exports in May.

Although China's textile and apparel exports have achieved year-on-year growth in the first five months, China's textile and apparel export enterprises are still faced with business problems such as order transfer and difficulty in ensuring the stability of the supply of textile and apparel raw materials. In the future, China's textile and apparel exports will be under great pressure to maintain growth.

"At present, the global textile industry pattern is in the stage of transferring to Southeast Asia. Due to the obstruction of the industrial chain transmission of domestic textile enterprises, the efficiency of textile and clothing supply has declined, and with the gradual maturity of high-end clothing industry technologies in Vietnam, India and other countries, the industrial transfer has accelerated. China The export competition of textiles and clothing is becoming increasingly fierce." Liu Jie said.

According to Vietnamese media reports, in the first five months, Vietnam's textile and apparel exports totaled US$18.7 billion, an increase of 23.5% over the same period in 2021. The export orders of enterprises have been placed at the end of the third quarter. Among them, Vietnamese textiles and garments have achieved considerable results in major markets such as the United States, Europe, and Japan.

At the same time, affected by the high cost of imported cotton, the stability of the supply of raw materials for domestic textile enterprises is difficult to guarantee, and the operation of Chinese textile and garment export enterprises is facing difficulties again. "The current international situation is changing rapidly, and trade protectionism has occurred frequently in various countries around the world. Some countries have raised commodity export tax rates and even implemented commodity export bans, exacerbating the global shortage of textile raw materials. This practice not only increases the cost of imported cotton in China, but also increases the textile industry. The stability of chain supply has also been impacted." Liu Jie said.

Some cotton spinning companies have reported that due to export requirements, some textile and apparel export orders have to be converted to imported cotton production, resulting in a sharp increase in the number of pure US cotton orders from May to June, but the price of US cotton to the factory is about 24,000 yuan / ton. Such high import costs have greatly reduced the profit margins of spinning companies using imported cotton.