Recently, there has been a lot of news about a large number of Indian textile orders flowing back to China. The reporter learned from the industry that some foreign trade companies such as cotton yarn export and garment export have indeed received some return orders. Overall, the textile and apparel industry shows obvious signs of recovery in the second half of the year.
Since the first positive growth in apparel exports in August this year, the data has been improving. Trade data recently released by the General Administration of Customs of China show that textile and clothing exports have achieved rapid growth in the first three quarters. Among them, clothing exports continued to grow in September. Textile and clothing orders have also exploded recently. The prosperity of the industry has also been transmitted to the upstream market, and the prices of textile raw materials such as cotton, polyester, and viscose have also risen sharply.
Unexpected flight orders are coming
Present In autumn, some domestic textile processing factories finally started to get busy after experiencing the epidemic.
A printing and dyeing factory in Zhejiang issued an internal document before the National Day: there will be no holidays on October 1st during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, and each employee will receive a subsidy of 200 yuan, which will be included in the monthly salary. reflect.
“The National Day holiday time has also been compressed this time. It used to be three days, but this year it is only two days to meet the delivery deadline.” A staff member of the purchasing department of a home textile processing factory in Shandong said that he As early as before the holiday, we began to feel that the textile market was improving. “The number of (overseas) orders we have received recently has gradually increased.” He noticed that the vacant work stations in the first half of the year have been filled and reworked. “For factories like ours that do export sales all year round, the quality level is online. As long as If we can start work normally, the construction period can be guaranteed.”
“In fact, it started to be very busy in September.” According to him, it was normal for the factory to have one day off a week, but this year the factory basically has one day off every week. They are all weekends. Starting from late August, the factory’s orders increased, and factories began to work overtime and urgently recruit workers. During the National Day, many factories did not take holidays to meet delivery deadlines.
Part of the reason why textile orders have improved recently comes from overseas. The person in charge of a textile export company in Shanghai revealed that recently, there has indeed been a phenomenon of orders from some Southeast Asian countries being transferred to domestic production lines. “Because Myanmar, Cambodia and other countries have adopted anti-epidemic measures such as closing the country, some European and American customers are actively contacting us to transfer orders to China for production.”
It is understood that the transferred orders include cotton yarn and other textile raw materials. There are also simple categories such as towels and bed sheets, which mainly supply supermarket needs. Previously, some of the orders for production lines deployed by Chinese companies in Southeast Asia were shifted to domestic production.
In addition, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia, the Indian textile industry has been suspended, so Indian orders have also flowed out in large quantities. India’s textile production occupies an important position internationally. Public information shows that India is the world’s largest cotton and jute producer, accounting for 22% of the world’s yarn production capacity. Affected by the epidemic, India’s entire industrial chain, including cotton processing and export and cotton gauze production, has been severely impacted.
The person in charge of another large clothing export company in Shanghai said that currently only about 30% of India’s relevant production capacity may be left. Some customers have diverted about 20 to 30% of their clothing orders to Bangladesh and China. The company also received Return order of knitted sweaters to Bangladesh.
Where do orders come from?
According to customs data, from January to September 2020, my country’s textile and clothing exports totaled 1,515.67 billion yuan, an increase of 12.2%, of which textile exports were 828.78 billion yuan, an increase of 37.5%, and clothing Exports were 686.89 billion yuan, down 8.1%.
In September, my country’s textile and clothing exports were 196.79 billion yuan, an increase of 14.5%, of which textile exports were 91.23 billion yuan, an increase of 33.4%, and clothing exports were 105.56 billion yuan, an increase of 2.1%.
According to many industry insiders, the improvement in orders from textile companies comes from the demand of the domestic “Double Eleven Shopping Festival” on the one hand, and the increase in foreign trade orders on the other, including the transfer of some orders from India to China. In addition, the expectation of cold winter has also increased the market’s expectations for the demand for winter clothing.
However, some experts pointed out that the transfer of orders from India to China will not be long-term demand, and the textile industry as a whole is also facing interference from price factors such as rising raw materials and RMB appreciation. The total order volume for the year may still be decline.
However, it is undeniable that textile and apparel exports have shown signs of recovery recently. The person in charge of many textile export companies told reporters that since July, foreign demand orders have suddenly exploded, and the number of inquiries and orders has increased. Some companies have placed orders until January next year.
The business person in charge of a Shanghai clothing export company said that the decline in the company’s clothing exports is currently narrowing. Since August, the demand for restocking in the European and American markets has increased. In September, many customers asked for replenishment orders and asked if there were any other Inventory canceled by customer.
With the overall recovery of the textile and apparel industry, market demand has become stronger, and the prices of raw material commodities such as cotton, polyester, and viscose have shown a strong trend. Fang Huiling, a senior analyst of agricultural products at Orient Securities Derivatives Research Institute, said that currently, the cotton market demand is improving, and orders have increased significantly month-on-month. The low inventory of products of textile companies and the rapid rebound in downstream demand have created the current hot market. In addition, viscose staple fiber and polyester staple fiber, which are also raw materials for cotton yarn, have also experienced extremely hot prices.
How to retain orders?
In the first half of this year, the domestic textile industry was basically at a standstill, especially in the area of foreign trade orders. The inventory in the textile industry continued to decline.For downstream factories, capital and inventory costs have put great pressure on the enterprises. With the restart of the European and American economies, the transfer of these orders to China will be a great benefit for downstream enterprises. According to the agency’s research on some downstream companies, it is found that there is a large demand for home textiles in large supermarkets in Europe and the United States. Because there was no replenishment during the epidemic, the inventory of these household items in the supermarkets was exhausted, so the intensity of replenishment is very strong.
In addition to home textile orders, some other foreign orders in the textile industry have also been transferred to domestic production. The person in charge of a company in Shanghai that mainly produces handbags, luggage, belts and other products said that since August, customers have suddenly given many orders to the company that were originally in India, mainly wallets and handbags.
Although the current export performance of the textile industry is excellent, some return orders are generally judged to be “emergency orders” in the textile and apparel industry. “I think more such orders are an emergency move. The fast transfer speed shows that the currency nature of such orders is stronger, and buyers pay more attention to factors such as price and processing speed. Once India’s domestic production capacity recovers, the domestic production cost advantage will decrease. Whether orders can remain in the country for a long time requires further observation,” said a textile industry researcher at CITIC Futures Agricultural Products Team. Leaders of many other companies also said that because they do not have an advantage in labor costs, it is difficult for these orders to stay in the country for a long time.
The textile industry is a labor-intensive industry and is very sensitive to labor costs. In recent years, as domestic labor costs have increased, many brands have relocated their factories to Southeast Asia such as Vietnam and Laos. nation. Once India’s domestic production capacity is restored and the domestic production cost advantage is reduced, it remains to be seen whether orders can remain in the country for a long time. It is not that easy to transfer these textile orders back, especially in the leather goods industry, which is not very technical and is relatively simple to transfer abroad.
Some industry experts pointed out that if my country wants to continue to maintain the international competitiveness of the textile and apparel industry, then upgrading the industrial chain has become the most important direction.
my country is the country with the most complete textile industry chain in the world, and the textile and garment industry has strong competitiveness. But at present, our advantages are mainly reflected in mid- to low-end products rather than high value-added products. Therefore, in the high-end field of textiles, we still need to polish our own technology and processes to make up for the gap with developed countries. At the same time, by optimizing its own structure, exploring new profit models, and developing new technologies, as my country’s textile industry chain continues to mature, the textile and apparel industry will also have a greater international voice. </p
