Double benefits promote steady export growth

In May this year, the national textile and apparel import and export trade volume was US$27.17 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. Among them, exports were US$24.97 billion, an increase of 8.7%; imports were US$2.2 billion, a decrease of 7.4%. The trade surplus for the month was US$22.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.5%. Driven by the gradual recovery of international market demand and the introduction of a series of measures by the central government to stabilize foreign trade, the country’s textile and apparel exports continued to grow in May, and the growth rate gradually expanded, with an increase of 8.7% in the month, and the growth rate expanded by 2.1 percentage points from April. From January to May, the country’s cumulative import and export trade volume of textiles and clothing was US$117.63 billion, an increase of 3.5%. Among them, exports were US$106.86 billion, an increase of 3.6%; imports were US$10.77 billion, an increase of 2.8%, and the cumulative surplus was US$96.09 billion, an increase of 3.7%.
In May, the country’s exports of textiles and apparel increased in all major trade modes. General trade increased by 10.5%, which was further expanded compared with April, driving overall export growth by 3.1 percentage points; border small trade increased slightly by 2.1%; processing trade grew relatively slowly. , a slight increase of 0.9%. From January to May, cumulative exports of general trade increased by 4%, processing trade increased by 1.6%, and small border trade increased by 4%.
​The main export markets have increased or decreased in different ways
The growth rate for the EU is much higher than the average
​The EU is currently my country’s fastest-growing major export market, with monthly exports continuing to set new records. In May, my country’s exports to the EU were US$4.93 billion, an increase of 26.4%. Among them, the export volume of knitted and woven clothing for major categories of commodities continued to expand. The export volume for the month reached nearly 700 million pieces (sets), an increase of 23.2%. The export unit price hit a new high during the year, an increase of 7.3%. From January to May, the cumulative exports to the EU were US$20.01 billion, an increase of 17.9%, a growth rate far exceeding the average. Among them, the cumulative export volume of knitted and woven clothing increased by 16.8%, and the average export unit price increased by 3.3%.
​Exports to the United States grow steadily
In May, my country’s exports to the United States were US$3.8 billion, an increase of 9.7%. Although the growth rate dropped slightly from the previous period, the export volume further expanded. Among them, textile exports increased by 4.3%, clothing increased by 11.8%, and the growth rate of clothing exports accelerated significantly. From January to May, the cumulative exports to the United States were US$15.41 billion, an increase of 6.8%. Among them, textiles increased by 6.2% and clothing increased by 7%. The growth rate of clothing once again exceeded that of textiles. The total exports of knitted and woven garments in the major categories of clothing reached 2.24 billion pieces (sets), an increase of 2.6%, and the average export unit price increased by 4.7%.
​The overall growth rate of ASEAN has picked up
Since the beginning of the year, the growth rate of my country’s textile and apparel exports to ASEAN has dropped significantly compared with last year, with an increase of only 1.3% from January to April. Export growth picked up slightly in May. Exports to ASEAN that month were US$3.22 billion, an increase of 11.1%, which was mainly driven by a 17% increase in textiles, while clothing only increased by 1.2%. From January to May, cumulative exports to ASEAN were US$13.94 billion, an increase of 3.4%, of which textiles increased by 12.2% and clothing decreased by 9.2%. The total export volume of knitted and woven garments increased by 19.1%, and the average export unit price fell by 23.8%.
​Exports to Japan continue to decline
In May, my country’s exports to Japan still did not improve. Exports that month were US$1.68 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 10% and a month-on-month decrease of 25%. From January to May, the cumulative exports to Japan were US$9.52 billion, down 8.6%, of which the main export product, clothing, fell by 11.2%. The total export volume of knitted and woven clothing in clothing dropped by 8.2%, and the average unit price of exports fell by 4.5%.
​Textile exports grow steadily
Clothing export prices stop falling
In May, textile exports were US$10.46 billion, an increase of 7.7%, and clothing exports were US$14.51 billion, an increase of 9.5%. In textiles, yarns, fabrics and finished products all achieved steady growth; in clothing, the total export of bulk commodities needle and woven garments was 3.09 billion pieces (sets), an increase of 10.3%, and the average unit price of exports stopped falling and remained flat. From January to May, exports of textiles and clothing were US$44.05 billion and US$62.8 billion respectively, an increase of 5% and 2.6% respectively. The total exports of knitted and woven clothing were 13.3 billion pieces (sets), an increase of 8.7%, and the average export unit price fell by 5.4%. Among them, the export unit price of woven clothing fell by only 1.6%, and that of knitted clothing fell by 12%.
​Double-digit decline in textile imports
Clothing imports increase, prices decrease
In May, my country’s textile imports were US$1.79 billion and clothing imports were US$400 million. Textile imports fell by 11.8%, while clothing maintained a rapid growth of 18.6%. Imports of yarn and fabrics, which accounted for the main share of textiles, all dropped by 12% and 17.4% respectively, the largest single-month decline since the beginning of the year. Among them, the import volume of cotton yarn, which grew rapidly last year, dropped by 15%, and the average unit price of imports dropped by 4%. From January to April, the cumulative import of textiles decreased by 1.5%, of which yarn and fabric decreased by 0.9% and 7.7% respectively; the cumulative import of clothing increased by 23.1%, of which the import volume of knitted and woven clothing increased by 66%, and the average unit price of imports decreased by 24.1%. %.
​Cotton imports continue to fall
International cotton prices continue to decline
In May, cotton imports continued to fall, with imports for the month reaching 192,000 tons, a decrease of 45%. From January to April, the cumulative import volume was 1.177 million tons, a decrease of 45%. The growth rate of the average unit price of imports slowed down, with monthly and cumulative increases of 4.9% and 7% respectively in May. In May, as the market generally expected that cotton prices would still have room to fall further, and the downstream market in the textile industry continued to be sluggish, textile companies were cautious in bidding, and the transaction volume of cotton reserves dropped significantly compared with the previous month. Domestic cotton spot transactions are still light, prices continue to fall, and are close to the transaction price of reserve cotton. Cotton procurement by textile enterprises is based on state cotton reserves and imports.Mainly cotton, spot resources are scarce. Cotton prices continued to fall in May, moving closer to the transaction price of reserve cotton. The monthly average price of China’s cotton price index (CCIndex3128B) in May was 17,434 yuan/ton, a decrease of 1,003 yuan/ton from the previous month.
In May, international cotton prices continued to decline. The monthly average price of China’s imported cotton price index FCIndexM was 94.82 cents/pound, down 2.3 cents from the previous month. The 1% tariff and sliding tax discounted RMB are 14,885 yuan/ton and 15,937 yuan/ton respectively, which are lower than the Chinese cotton price index of 2,549 yuan and 1,497 yuan respectively in the same period, and the price difference narrows by 687 yuan and 782 yuan respectively.