At the beginning of 2020, the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic broke out in China, and then spread globally. Various restrictive measures taken by various countries to combat the epidemic caused the international economic and trade cycle to be blocked, and my country’s macroeconomic downward pressure increased significantly. In order to alleviate the extreme shortage of anti-epidemic materials such as masks and protective clothing, relevant textile companies overcame numerous difficulties and resumed production one after another during the Spring Festival, striving to ensure the supply of key materials, which fully demonstrated the advanced manufacturing advantages of my country’s textile industry chain. Since mid-to-late February, with the unified leadership of the party and the state and the joint efforts of the entire industry, the resumption of work and production in the entire textile industry has been progressing in an orderly manner, supply capacity has been steadily restored, and the synergy of industrial chain operations has continued to improve. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, textile companies’ domestic and foreign market orders decreased significantly in the first quarter, and their efficiency declined severely. Production and operations encountered unprecedented difficulties, and investment and development confidence were obviously insufficient. Statistics show that in the first quarter, the main operating indicators of the textile industry showed negative growth, and maintaining stable operation faces greater challenges.
Actively promote the resumption of work and production
The production of epidemic prevention and control materials is good
Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia, faced with the shortage of key materials such as protective masks and medical protective clothing, textile companies have overcome difficulties such as insufficient personnel returning to work and poor transportation and logistics to promote the resumption of work in an orderly manner. Produce. According to survey data from China Textile Federation, by the end of February, the resumption rate of key textile enterprises had reached 80%. As the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation continues to improve, production and living order has been restored, and the resumption of work and production of textile enterprises has remained stable. As of the end of March, the resumption rate of key enterprises reached more than 90%, and it stabilized at around 90% by the end of April. Some key textile companies transformed the production of masks, protective clothing and other materials during the epidemic, providing strong material support for the whole society.
The starting load of the textile industry has gradually recovered, but due to the epidemic, the capacity utilization rate is slightly lower than the normal level, and the industrial added value has declined compared with the same period last year. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, the capacity utilization rates of the textile industry and chemical fiber industry were 67.2% and 74.4% respectively, which was slightly better than the 67.2% capacity utilization level of the national manufacturing industry, but decreased by 10.5 and 8.8 percentage points respectively from the same period last year. . In the first quarter, the added value of the textile industry above designated size fell by 16.5% year-on-year, and the growth rate dropped by 21.9 percentage points from the same period last year. Among the main links in the industrial chain, the industrial textiles industry has concentrated on producing anti-epidemic materials. Its industrial added value increased by 11.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, ranking first in the entire industrial chain. The production growth rate in other links of the industrial chain has slowed down significantly, including clothing. The home textile industry has been particularly affected by the downturn in demand, with industrial added value decreasing by 19.7% and 17.3% year-on-year respectively, and the added value of the textile machinery industry decreasing by 31.5% year-on-year, indicating that the textile industry lacks investment confidence at this stage.
Domestic and foreign market demand is obviously insufficient
During the epidemic prevention and control period, Anti-epidemic measures to close physical businesses, isolate people at home, and reduce social activities have significantly weakened domestic consumption of clothing products, causing both online and offline sales to decline. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and knitted textiles by units above designated size in my country decreased by 32.2% year-on-year, and the retail sales of online clothing products decreased by 15.1% year-on-year, which were 35.5 and 34.2 percentage points lower than the same period last year. .
Due to the increasingly severe situation of overseas epidemic prevention and control, business in major export markets such as the United States and Europe has been suspended, and consumer demand has been sluggish. Since late March, export orders from Chinese textile companies have dropped sharply, and overseas customers have canceled orders and delayed receipts. The situation continues to increase, and the export situation of the industry is relatively severe. According to customs data, my country’s textile and apparel exports totaled US$47.88 billion in the first quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 17.8%. Among them, textile exports were US$24.04 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 15.3%; clothing exports were US$23.84 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 20.2%. Exports to both traditional and emerging markets have shown a downward trend. In the first quarter, my country’s textile and apparel exports to the United States, Japan and the EU decreased by 29.2%, 16.8% and 14.3% year-on-year respectively, and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” decreased by 13.6% year-on-year. .
Operation quality and efficiency and investment are declining
In market demand In the case of serious shortages, textile enterprises have experienced sharp declines in revenue, heavy cost burdens, and operating pressures continue to increase. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, the country’s 33,000 textile enterprises above designated size achieved operating income of 831.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25.4%; total profits were 21.81 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 44.2%; the operating income profit margin of enterprises above designated size was only 2.6%. The finished product turnover rate and total asset turnover rate slowed down by 35.5% and 28.3% respectively year-on-year. The proportion of finance, management, and sales expenses was 7.9%, which was significantly higher than the normal level of 6% to 7%.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, textile companies are under severe capital turnover pressure, and the scale of industry investment has been significantly reduced. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, the completion of fixed asset investment in the textile industry decreased by 38% year-on-year. In terms of industries, investment in the textile industry, chemical fiber industry and clothing industry decreased by 37.1%, 45.8% and 19.2% respectively year-on-year. In terms of regions, the investment in the chemical fiber industry in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces in the east increased by 13% and 20.6% respectively year-on-year. The investment in the textile industry in Anhui Province in the center increased by 3.1% year-on-year. The textile, clothing and chemical fiber industries in Sichuan Province in the west increased year-on-year. Growth rates were 91.9%, 21.4% and 45.9% respectively, which are regional highlights amid the current shrinking investment scale of the entire industry.�
The pressure to maintain stable and healthy development is outstanding
Currently, my country’s macroeconomic operation is Normalized epidemic prevention and control is gradually getting on the right track, and production and living order has been restored at an accelerated pace. However, the global epidemic prevention and control situation is still severe and the development prospects are still unclear. This has significantly increased the difficulties and challenges faced by the development of my country’s textile industry, and the pressure to maintain smooth operation will still be very prominent.
From the perspective of the international environment, the effectiveness of overseas epidemic prevention and control is lower than expected, the downside risks of the world economy have intensified, and various unstable and uncertain factors have increased significantly. The continued sluggish overseas demand has put particular pressure on the export situation. Significantly. From the perspective of the domestic environment, the downward macroeconomic pressure and the periodic impact brought by the epidemic are superimposed, and the task of normalized epidemic prevention and control remains arduous. Affected by insufficient demand and poor economic circulation, a large number of textile companies will still face difficulties such as insufficient orders, declining profits, and tight capital chains. The survival pressure of small, medium and micro enterprises is particularly prominent, and the pressure on the textile industry to stabilize employment and growth has also increased. However, the basic trend of my country’s economy being stable and improving in the long term has not changed. The huge domestic market will continue to play the role of “ballast” and provide core support for the development of my country’s textile industry. The state has introduced a series of measures to alleviate difficulties, and the policies and measures are gradually implemented and showing results, which will help enterprises overcome difficulties and regain their vitality. Under the impact of the epidemic, a group of leading backbone enterprises are determined to promote high-quality development and work hard to cope with challenges. This will also promote the continuous optimization of the industrial structure and steadily improve development resilience and risk resistance.
The entire textile industry will implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and under the normal situation of epidemic prevention and control, accelerate the promotion of key enterprises, industrial clusters and professional markets to vigorously tap domestic and foreign market potential, and strive to stabilize the start of production. And the transition from resumption of work and production to resumption of work and market. Under the difficult situation, we will continue to deepen the supply-side structural reform, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the industry, and strive to resolve the adverse impact of the new coronavirus epidemic from the root cause. Pay more attention to the important livelihood role of the textile industry in ensuring the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain, ensuring residents’ employment, and maintaining social stability. We strive to ensure that there are no major fluctuations in the economic operation of the industry, and do a good job in the implementation of the “six stability” work and the “six guarantees” “mission, fully complete the national economic development tasks in 2020, achieve a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and decisively fight against poverty and make due contributions. </p
