According to Vietnam’s “Vietnam Express” news on December 18, at a seminar on the sustainable development of the clothing and textile industry held on the 17th, industry executives said that after resuming operations 2 Months later, the current main concerns are labor shortages, rising raw material costs and epidemic prevention expenses. Textile and apparel companies in southern Vietnam have been forced to push back new export orders due to labor shortages and high shipping costs.
Logistics costs have soared since the beginning of the epidemic. Now companies are worried that labor shortages will delay production and delivery, forcing companies to fly products at high cost to ensure timely delivery. The manager of a clothing company in the northern province of Bac Giang said its foreign buyers were demanding fast delivery for the upcoming Christmas period.
The head of a textile and apparel company in Ho Chi Minh City said the company’s factory in the southern Vinh Long province that produces goods for Adidas is “dare” to accept new orders. Air freight is expensive, but not all partners share the cost, he said.
A survey by the Vietnam Employment Relations Research Center found that 66.7% of buyers agreed to delay delivery, but only 16.7% agreed to share air freight costs. Only 1/5 of buyers agreed to include part of the epidemic prevention and control costs in the unit price.
According to a survey conducted by the center in November, 75-80% of workers returned to work in factories in southern provinces that month. But one month later, some workers chose to resign due to unpaid wages and other reasons. By the second quarter of this year, Vietnam will still be an important source of clothing and textiles for foreign partners, with 50% of buyers surveyed saying they will increase purchasing efforts, but labor shortages will remain a big problem.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs of Vietnam, Vietnam’s clothing and textile exports exceeded US$29.1 billion in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 8%. Specifically, the value of clothing and textile exports to the United States increased by 13% to $14.3 billion, the value of exports to the European Union increased by 3.1% to $3.4 billion, and the value of exports to Japan fell by 9.5% to $2.9 billion.
