In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel exports performed solidly overall, with exports growing by as much as 43.7% year-on-year, export volume exceeding the same period in 2019, and an average growth rate of 8.7% in the two years. However, the current external environment has become increasingly severe and complex, and major events have occurred frequently in just three months since the beginning of the year.
The epidemic is not over yet, market demand has not yet stabilized, the unrest in Myanmar has caused damage to Chinese investment companies in Myanmar, the cotton issue in Xinjiang continues to ferment, the appreciation of the RMB, and the skyrocketing prices of raw materials have all adversely affected our country. Exports have had a serious negative impact. In the absence of a stable market environment and trading environment, coupled with an increase in the year-on-year base, the export performance in the second quarter will be weaker than that in the first quarter, with growth slowing down and a year-on-year decline.
At present, the epidemic has been effectively contained in our country, and the vaccination work in our country has been carried out in an orderly manner. A total of more than 200 million vaccines have been vaccinated nationwide. The United States and other developed countries are also promoting vaccination. However, the vaccination situation in some developing countries, including India, is poor, so it will still take some time for global recovery. It is expected that it will take 1 to 2 years for the world to get back on track.
The epidemic has amplified the adverse factors in international politics and economy, triggered potential conflicts at all levels, and made black swan events continue. The emergence of the epidemic has had a certain adverse impact on my country’s textile and garment industry. However, the epidemic has also tested and reshuffled various industries around the world, fully proving the resilience and stability of my country’s textile and apparel industry, and further strengthening the development confidence of the industry and enterprises. The current recurrence of the epidemic in some countries has hindered the nascent reverse flow of orders. Orders from key markets such as Europe, the United States, and Japan will once again slow down the transfer speed and shift more to my country.
Chinese enterprises should seize the opportunity, strive to consolidate and then expand their market share in developed countries, and slow down the speed of industrial transfer. At the same time, we should pay more attention to the epidemic trends and vaccination status in Europe and the United States, grasp the direction and changing trends of the large market, and adjust production and trade strategies in a timely manner to prepare for the post-epidemic era and gain the upper hand.
Exports grew rapidly in the first quarter
In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel trade volume was US$73.38 billion, a year-on-year increase of 40%. Among them, exports were US$66.52 billion, an increase of 43.7%; imports were US$6.86 billion, an increase of 12.1%, and the cumulative trade surplus was US$59.67 billion, an increase of 48.5%. In March, the textile and apparel trade volume was US$22.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.1%. Among them, exports were US$19.35 billion, an increase of 22.7%; imports were US$2.73 billion, an increase of 18.5%. The trade surplus for the month was US$16.62 billion, an increase of 23.4%.
The first quarter of last year was the outbreak of the epidemic in my country, and exports once fell into a trough. Under the influence of factors such as a low base, exports rebounded across the board in the first quarter of this year and achieved rapid growth, with an increase of more than 40%. Due to the special circumstances last year, when looking at this year’s data, comparisons need to be made from multiple periods and angles.
Compared with the same period in 2019, textile and clothing exports increased by 18.1% in the first quarter of this year, of which textiles increased by 19.4% and clothing increased by 19.4%. 17%; from the two-year average growth rate, textile and clothing exports increased by 8.7%, of which textiles increased by 9.2%, and clothing increased by 8.2%; from a monthly month-on-month basis, textiles and clothing fell by 3.3% from February, of which textiles increased by 7.1%, Clothing fell 12.1%. The growth of textiles continues unabated, while clothing begins to fall.
The European Union market demand has recovered most significantly
As the global epidemic has lasted for more than a year, the structure of my country’s textile and apparel export market has undergone some changes. The market share of some developed countries has increased, such as the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, etc. In addition, India has an obvious upward trend. Exports to India increased by 65% in the first quarter, and India’s share of my country’s export market increased from 1.7% in 2019 to 2%. At the same time, the proportion of some former major export markets has dropped significantly, such as Russia and Hong Kong, China, especially Hong Kong, China. The downward trend is obvious. Exports to Hong Kong, China, fell by 11.4% in the first quarter. It is the only market among the top 30 that has declined. .
The United States is currently my country’s largest export market, and exports to the United States have exceeded the 27 EU countries. In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel exports to the United States were US$11.78 billion, a year-on-year increase of 81.7% and an increase of 28.2% over the same period in 2019. Among them, the key commodity needle-woven clothing increased by 48.1%, down 5% from 2019, and has not yet returned to the pre-epidemic level.
In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel exports to the EU were US$10.15 billion, a year-on-year increase of 51% and an increase of 29.9% over the same period in 2019. Among them, the key commodity needle-woven clothing increased by 39.2%, an increase of 16.6% compared with 2019.
In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel exports to Japan were US$5.19 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30.6% and an increase of 8.5% over the same period in 2019. . Among them, the key commodity needle-woven garments increased by 14.9%, down 6.2% from 2019.
In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel exports to ASEAN totaled US$10.21 billion.A year-on-year increase of 38.7% and a year-on-year increase of 20.6%. Among them, the key commodity yarn fabrics increased by 22.7%, an increase of 0.6% compared with 2019.
Due to the recurrence of epidemics, although the share of Chinese products in key markets has declined from the high point last year, it has not continued. decline, currently maintaining a stable or slightly fluctuating trend. From January to February, the United States imported US$20.02 billion from the world, an increase of 7.9%, and its imports from China increased by 35%, with China accounting for 32.2%, of which textiles accounted for 38.4%, and clothing accounted for 29.8%, both of which were higher than in 2020. Same period, but lower than the same period in 2019. From January to February, Japan’s imports from China accounted for 56.2%, of which textiles and clothing accounted for 59.2% and 55.2% respectively, both exceeding the levels of last year and the same period in 2019.
Clothing exports grew faster than textiles
In the first quarter, as consumer demand in major markets slowly recovered, clothing exports began to accelerate, with a growth rate exceeding that of textiles. Clothing and textiles increased by 47.5% and 40% respectively year-on-year.
As key epidemic prevention supplies masks and protective clothing were still in a rapid growth stage in the first quarter (increased 145% and 225.6% respectively ), it is necessary to peel off the epidemic prevention materials before we can see the actual situation of textile and clothing exports. After removing masks, textile exports increased by 31.5% year-on-year and 8.6% compared with the same period in 2019; after removing protective clothing, clothing exports increased by 44.5% year-on-year and 14.3% compared with the same period in 2019. In terms of product categories, exports of medium-needle woven clothing increased by 36.7% year-on-year and 7.4% compared with the same period in 2019. Yarns and fabrics in textiles increased by 15.8% and 23.5% year-on-year respectively. Compared with 2019, fabrics were slightly The price of yarn increased by 0.7%, while the yarn price decreased by 0.8%.
In March last year, my country began to export anti-epidemic materials on a large scale and maintained rapid growth for a year. In March this year, the export volume of anti-epidemic materials was still at a high level, but the growth rate gradually declined. The exports of masks and protective clothing increased by 5.8% and 96% respectively in that month, which was significantly lower than the previous growth level. Starting from the second quarter, exports of anti-epidemic materials will show negative year-on-year growth.
The export performance of central and western provinces and cities is outstanding
In the first quarter, all 31 provinces, municipalities (autonomous regions) across the country, except Tibet, achieved rapid growth, and the performance of the central and western regions was still outstanding. The eastern, central and western regions and the three northeastern provinces increased by 41.5%, 79.1%, 52.3% and 7.9% respectively. Judging from the single-month situation, the export growth rate of various regions in March dropped significantly compared with the previous two months. Among the top five export provinces and cities, the growth rate of Zhejiang and Jiangsu shrank to single digits, and Guangdong, Shandong and Fujian also experienced varying degrees of decline.
The growth trend of clothing imports is obvious
In sharp contrast to exports, textile and clothing imports still showed a month-on-month upward trend in March. Textile and clothing imports in that month increased by 18.5% year-on-year and 58.7% month-on-month. The growth is mainly driven by clothing. During the epidemic, purchasing imported clothing and other high-end consumer goods has become the first choice for people who cannot go abroad for shopping. Clothing imports increased by 56.8% that month (in the same period, the imports of light industrial cosmetics, footwear, and bags also increased by more than 50%) , clothing imports achieved a cumulative growth of 52.7% in the first quarter. Imports of fabrics and finished products in textiles all declined. Yarns, mainly cotton yarns, maintained growth. In the first quarter, the cumulative import volume and value of cotton yarn increased by 21.5% and 21.2% respectively, and the average import price increased by 7.6%.
Cotton imports continue to grow at a high level
In the first quarter, cotton imports grew rapidly, with a total of 971,000 tons imported from the world, an increase of 58.2% over the first quarter of last year. Among them, the United States is the largest source of imports, with a total import of 430,000 tons from the United States, an increase of 2.5 times, and the proportion of U.S. cotton is as high as 44.3%. Brazil and India are ranked after the United States. Burkina Faso ranked fourth and became my country’s new main source of cotton imports.
In March, driven by the decline in commodity prices, cotton prices at home and abroad showed a correction trend. The operating rate of textile enterprises remained at a high level, and market purchases and sales were smooth. Enterprises took advantage of the drop in cotton prices to replenish their inventory. Raw material inventories increased slightly, and commercial inventories continued to decline. Xinjiang cotton transportation volume increased, and Xinjiang inventories dropped significantly. On March 31, the central reserve cotton rotation ended. Since the price difference between domestic and foreign cotton has always not met the conditions, the cotton reserve rotation work has not been started. According to the survey results of the China Cotton Association, the intended area for cotton planting nationwide is 43.6755 million acres, a year-on-year decrease of 4.99%, and the decline is 4.4 percentage points larger than the previous period. </p
