In June this year, my country’s textile and apparel trade volume was US$27.84 billion, an increase of 6.2%. Among them, exports were US$25.65 billion, an increase of 6.5%, imports were US$2.19 billion, an increase of 3.2%, and the trade surplus for the month was US$23.46 billion, an increase of 6.8%. From January to June, my country’s textile and apparel cumulative trade volume reached US$145.47 billion, an increase of 4%. Among them, exports were US$132.5 billion, an increase of 4.1%, imports were US$12.97 billion, an increase of 2.9%, and the cumulative surplus was US$119.53 billion, an increase of 4.3%.
Overall analysis
Exports grew steadily in the first half of the year
The second half of the year is expected to be stable
In the first half of this year, the economies of major developed countries showed signs of recovery, and demand in major textile and apparel import markets such as the European Union and the United States gradually recovered. At the same time, driven by the central government’s series of measures to stabilize foreign trade, my country’s textile and apparel trade has generally performed stably, with both imports and exports growing, and the growth rate exceeds the overall level of my country’s goods trade. Among them, exports fluctuated greatly in each month in the first quarter, and entered a stable growth range in the second quarter. The average export volume in this quarter increased by 7.3%.
Judging from the current overall situation, the international market demand has continued to recover, coupled with the gradual release of policies to stabilize foreign trade, which has activated the initiative and enthusiasm of domestic export enterprises, and the export confidence of enterprises has increased. It is expected that exports will continue to grow in the second half of the year. However, due to uncertainties in the depth and breadth of the market recovery, frequent fluctuations in the RMB exchange rate, high production costs reported by enterprises, complicated import and export charges, low customs clearance efficiency, and financing difficulties, the pace of rapid export growth will still be restricted. . In addition, the base number in the same period last year was relatively high. It is expected that the growth rate of textile and apparel exports in the second half of the year will not be too large. Steady growth will be the main tone of exports throughout the year.
Export Overview
General trade drives growth
Commodity volume increases and price decreases
From January to June, general trade exports totaled US$101.2 billion, an increase of 4.5%, which was the main driving force for overall export growth. The proportion of exports further increased to 76.4%; the growth rate of border small-amount trade exports was significantly faster than last year. Slow down, with growth of only 3.5% in the first half of the year, 30 percentage points lower than last year’s full-year level. Exports of processing trade increased by 1.1%, mainly due to the growth of processing with imported materials, while exports of processing with supplied materials decreased by 9%.
In the first half of the year, textiles and clothing achieved simultaneous growth in exports. Textile exports were US$53.31 billion, an increase of 4.2%, and clothing exports were US$79.19 billion, an increase of 4.1%. Among textiles, only yarn exports fell slightly, fabrics increased by 3.8%, and finished products increased by 6.2%; among apparel bulk commodities, knitted and woven clothing exports totaled 16.4 billion pieces (sets), an increase of 8.4%, and the average export unit price fell by 3.6%. The decline in domestic cotton costs has caused a significant decline in the export prices of cotton yarn and cotton clothing. The export price of cotton yarn fell by 9.7% and that of cotton clothing fell by 8.7%.
Trading partners
Second position in major European and American markets
ASEAN needle and woven garments have very different needs
Exports to Europe are growing fastest
With the gradual recovery of the EU economy, my country’s exports to the EU were in good shape in the first half of the year, with a cumulative export volume of US$26.1 billion, an increase of 18.5%. The EU has become the fastest growing major market for my country’s exports. Textile exports to the EU increased by 13.4%, and clothing increased by 20.2%. Among them, almost all major categories of commodity exports achieved double-digit growth. The total export volume of knitted and woven garments reached 3.77 billion pieces (sets), an increase of 17.3%, and the average export unit price increased by 3.7%.
Exports to the United States increase steadily
In the first half of the year, my country’s exports to the United States were US$19.45 billion, achieving a steady growth of 6.9%. Among them, textiles increased by 5.7% and clothing increased by 7.4%. Among garments, the total exports of knitted and woven garments were 2.8 billion pieces (sets), an increase of 2.8%, and the average export unit price increased by 4.9%. The two traditional markets of the European Union and the United States have once again become the main growth points of my country’s exports. The share of exports to the European and American markets in total exports has increased from 32.8% last year to 34.3%, driving the overall export growth to 15.4 percentage points.
ASEAN market growth slows down
From 2010 to 2013, ASEAN has become my country’s fastest growing major export market for four consecutive years, with export growth exceeding 20%. Entering 2014, the growth rate gradually slowed down. In the first half of the year, exports to ASEAN totaled US$16.7 billion, an increase of 3.2%, of which textiles increased by 10.2% and clothing decreased by 7%. Exports of key export commodities fabrics and yarns increased by 6.6% and 19.1% respectively, and finished products increased by 18%. The performance of knitted and woven clothing in clothing is very different: the export volume of knitted clothing dropped by 13%, while the export volume of woven clothing surged by more than 3 times. Among them, clothing made of various fabrics doubled, and wool clothing increased by more than 10 times. Export destinations are mainly concentrated in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries. On the one hand, the excessive growth in exports is due to ASEAN consumers’ preference for my country’s high-quality and low-price clothing products, which leads to an increase in imports; on the other hand, it may be related to the fact that ASEAN re-exports imported clothing to Japan, Europe and the United States through various channels.
Exports to Japan further decline
Since 2014, the role of the Japanese market in my country’s exports has further declined. As of the first half of the year, exports to Japan accounted for less than 9% of total exports. Exports all fell in each month from February to June, with a cumulative decline of 8.4% from January to June, mainly in clothing.Due to a decrease of 11.1%, textiles maintained a growth of 3.6%. Among apparel, the total export volume of knitted and woven apparel fell by 8.5%, and the export unit price fell by 4%.
Import overview
Clothing fabrics are rising rapidly
Cotton price difference continues to narrow
From January to June, my country’s textile imports were US$10.2 billion, a decrease of 1.6%, and clothing imports were US$2.76 billion, an increase of 23.4%. Imports of yarn and fabrics, which accounted for the main share of textiles, fell by 1.3% and 7.3% respectively, while finished products increased by 9.5%. Affected by the fall in cotton prices, the import volume of cotton yarn, which had grown rapidly in the early stage, fell rapidly. In the first half of the year, import volume only increased by 2.3%. The rapid growth of clothing imports is mainly driven by knitted and woven clothing. The total import volume of knitted and woven clothing increased by 69% in the first half of the year. The source countries with rapid import growth are mainly concentrated in North Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh and other countries, and the average unit price of imports has dropped. 25%.
In the first half of the year, my country’s cotton imports dropped significantly. In the first five months, imports basically showed a downward trend month by month. In June, there was a slight rebound. Imports in that month were 218,000 tons, a decrease of 19.1%, and the decline was smaller than in the previous period. The cumulative imports from January to June were 1.395 million tons, a decrease of 42.2%. The average unit price of imports was US$2,060/ton, an increase of 6.2%.
In June, cotton-consuming enterprises still mainly purchased cotton from state reserves and imported cotton. The spot price fell, but the downward trend slowed down. In June, the average price of China’s cotton price index (CC Index 3128B) was 17,371 yuan, a month-on-month decrease of 63 yuan. The monthly average price of China’s imported cotton price index FC Index M was 91.99 cents/pound, down 2.83 cents from the previous month. The 1% tariff and sliding tax discounted RMB are 14,469 yuan/ton and 15,644 yuan/ton respectively, which are lower than the Chinese cotton price index of 2,902 yuan and 1,727 yuan respectively in the same period, and the price difference has expanded by 353 yuan and 230 yuan respectively. In the first half of the year, the price difference between domestic cotton and imported cotton narrowed to less than 3,000 yuan from an average of 4,000 to 5,000 yuan last year.
