Cambodia mainly produces and exports clothing, and the demand for imported fabrics is higher than fiber and yarn. Cambodia relies on fabrics produced in China, accounting for 79.26% of Cambodia’s total fabric imports in 2022. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen recently stated that China is the largest supplier of raw materials to Cambodia’s garment industry.
Cambodia will import US$4.407 billion in fabrics in 2022, of which China will supply US$3.493 billion, accounting for 79.26%. According to statistics from Fibre2Fashion market insight report TexPro, China’s fabric exports to Cambodia were US$4.632 billion in 2017, which rose to US$5.495 billion in 2018, but dropped to US$4.610 billion in 2019, and dropped to US$2.299 billion in 2020. However, China regained market share in 2021, with exports of US$3.299 billion, and exports in 2022 of US$3.493 billion.
According to TexPro statistics, Cambodia will import yarn of US$346 million in 2022, of which China will supply US$298 million, accounting for 86%. As Cambodia focuses on garment manufacturing, Cambodian fiber imports are very small, with imports of US$5.87 million in 2022, of which China will provide US$4.9 million, accounting for 83.5%.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said in March 2020 that seven raw material ships from China arrived in Cambodia to alleviate the shortage of materials for Cambodian garment factories during the COVID-19 epidemic. The above statistics show that China plays an important role in supplying raw materials to the Cambodian garment industry.
