Affected by rising labor costs and low order completion rates, textile export companies mostly receive short- and medium-term orders. These short- and medium-term orders directly reduce the company’s export profits. In order to increase product prices, textile export companies began to focus on brands and move towards the high-end market.
Data show that in April this year, my country’s textile and clothing exports maintained growth. Judging from the textile transactions at the 115th Canton Fair, the export of textile raw materials such as cotton yarn, wool animal hair yarn, chemical fiber cloth and linen gauze achieved growth. The export situation of textiles and clothing is improving.
Raw material export growth
According to data provided by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles, in March this year, the national textile and apparel trade volume was US$20.92 billion, an increase of 9.8%. Among them, exports were US$18.64 billion, an increase of 11.5%; imports were US$2.28 billion, a decrease of 1.9%; the trade surplus for the month was US$16.36 billion, an increase of 11.4%. From January to March, the country’s cumulative trade volume of textiles and apparel reached US$64.36 billion, an increase of 0.9%. Among them, exports were US$58.13 billion, an increase of 0.4%; imports were US$6.23 billion, an increase of 5.8%; the cumulative surplus was US$51.9 billion, a decrease of 0.2%.
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, textile and apparel exports continued to grow in April and gradually showed a positive trend. Exports in the month were US$23.76 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%. Among them, textile exports were US$10.56 billion, an increase of 9.4%; clothing exports were US$13.2 billion, an increase of 4.5%. From January to April, the cumulative exports of textiles and clothing were US$81.88 billion, an increase of 2.2%. Among them, textile exports were US$33.59 billion, an increase of 4.3%; clothing exports were US$48.29 billion, an increase of 0.8%.
The reporter learned that as of May 3, the export transaction volume of textile raw materials was US$57.814 million, a month-on-month increase of 3.3% and a year-on-year increase of 95.4%, achieving both month-on-month and year-on-year growth. The commodities that contributed greatly to the increase in transactions were cotton yarn, wool animal hair yarn, chemical fiber cloth and linen gauze.
Export markets have different growth rates
In the first quarter, the EU was the most active. my country’s textile and apparel exports to the EU amounted to US$11.09 billion, an increase of 10.2%, the fastest growing among key markets. Among them, textile exports increased by 10.2% and clothing exports increased by 10.1%. The total export volume of bulk commodities knitted and woven garments increased by 11.4%, and the average unit price fell slightly by 0.9%.
According to data provided by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles, driven by the gradual stabilization of the US economy, my country’s exports to the United States in the first quarter were US$8.36 billion, an increase of 2%. Among them, textiles increased by 4.2% and clothing increased by 1.2%. The growth rate of textiles exceeded that of clothing. The export volume of bulk commodities knitted and woven garments fell slightly by 0.7%, and the average unit price increased by 1.9%. “In recent years, ASEAN has been the fastest growing market for China’s textile and apparel exports, with an average annual growth rate of 30% from 2011 to 2013. However, in the first quarter of this year, the growth rate of China’s exports to ASEAN slowed down significantly, with an export volume of US$7.28 billion, only An increase of 1.3%. In the early period, China’s garment exports to ASEAN, which grew rapidly, fell by 6.7%. Among them, knitted and woven garments dropped by 5.6% in total, mainly due to the impact of falling prices, but export volume still achieved rapid growth of 26.8%.” The relevant person in charge of the Textile Chamber of Commerce said that textile exports increased by 7.1%, yarn increased by 8.2%, fabrics increased by 3.6%, and finished products increased by 16.6%.
RMB exchange rate stimulates textile exports
According to media reports, the RMB has depreciated recently. Industry insiders said that this round of continued depreciation of the RMB has a significant stimulating effect on the export volume of labor-intensive enterprises such as textile fabrics that are not very profitable. “The continued depreciation of the RMB is beneficial to export companies.” A person in charge of a textile foreign trade company said that based on European and American orders, the continued depreciation of the RMB will bring 1% to 2% profit to the company.
Industry insiders believe that the dividend effect brought about by the devaluation of the RMB cannot help fabric export companies get out of trouble. At present, the export methods of my country’s textile and fabric enterprises are too traditional, and the model of relying on processing trade has not changed. This makes many enterprises not very competitive and their profits continue to decline. Fluctuations in exchange rates have little real impact on the long-term development of enterprises. If my country’s textile foreign trade enterprises want to truly become bigger and stronger, they should improve efficiency from aspects such as management, innovation, and branding. Only in this way can the core competitiveness of the enterprise be enhanced and the profit margins of the products improved.
