Survey Report On Purchasing Methods And Plans Of Global Spun Apparel In The Next Five Years

Recently, the United States clothing The industry federation released a report on the prospects of the textile and garment industry, which gathered professionals in the textile and garment industry, including fashion brand operators, retailers, importers and wholesalers, for the next 5 years.

The report shows that 89% of respondents to the United States Latest fashion The outlook for the industry is optimistic, but at the same time 81% are very worried about the rising cost. According to the survey, rising production and procurement costs have become the top concern of the American fashion industry. 81% of respondents regard it as the first or second major business challenge.

Asia's scale production advantage is not easy to replace.

What factors have caused the anxiety of American buyers? According to the survey, buyers said that more than half of the world's clothing and footwear products were produced in China, and the cost of production in China has been rising for some time. There is no sign of stagnation in a short time. Therefore, it is urgent to find suitable procurement places outside China and even outside Asia. However, it is not easy to find production sites that are comparable to China from capacity to quality.

According to the survey, 52% of American fashion companies buy from 6~20 countries, and 26% of them need to purchase from more than 20 countries and regions. Although 77% of respondents said they were increasing their purchases from the United States, Asia, especially China and Vietnam, remained the most frequently purchased country by American businesses. Ryan Pesko, partner of the American modern pulse Consulting Group, said that the United States sells $60 billion worth of footwear every year. Last year, 82% of footwear products were purchased from China, which has dropped from 86% in previous years.

In the survey, there was an interesting contrast between respondents' views on Asian countries. 100% of respondents said they were buying products from China more or less, but their business growth in China was slow because of rising labor costs and the recent economic slowdown. When asked about the plan for the next two years, 50% of enterprises expressed the hope of reducing the volume of purchases in China or even Asia from two aspects of value and quantity. The respondents said that although the respondents said so, it is expected that they will only decrease moderately, and there will be no obvious change. Respondents said they were actively looking for alternatives that could replace China. In fact, China was hard to replace. In the next few years, China will still be the most important purchasing base. "Most American companies are only hyping the media in order to leave China. In fact, China's position as the world's main source of procurement is not easy to shake. Not only did the respondents not intend to leave Asia, they would also increase several Asian purchasing places, such as Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. In addition, 60% of respondents said they might increase their purchases in Asia, 5% said they would increase purchases, and 15% would maintain their share.

Africa focuses on narrow niche markets

Although Asian procurement status is relatively stable, the study found that American Apparel Companies' interest in procurement in Africa is improving.

84% of the respondents said they would try to buy from Africa over the next two years, and 76.9% said that a diversified global sourcing base could make it easier for the company to develop.

At the same time, the "African trade" exhibition held in Cape Town came to a close recently, mainly discussing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) formulated and implemented by the United States. Industry experts say African clothing and textile producers will have more and more trade opportunities in the US market, but they need very long term preferential trade agreements to improve the supply chain and further meet the market demand.

Steve Lamar, executive vice president of the AAFA, said the AGOA will end next year, and many Americans support its reconstruction.

"Derived from African Trade The organizers of the exhibition pointed out that during the implementation of the AGOA bill, the volume of exports from Africa to the United States increased by 500%, from $8 billion 150 million in 2001 to $53 billion 800 million in 2011, of which the textile and garment industry accounted for nearly 1 billion dollars. Despite huge growth, African products account for only 1% of the US market share, which means there is still room for African companies to expand the US market. Lamar said that AAFA's member enterprises are interested in purchasing from Africa, but they are still on the sidelines waiting for the US government to make specific commitments to AGOA.

Tony Waddell, chief operating officer of Gelvenor textile company in South Africa, said that as an African textile manufacturer, Gelvenor can produce very good quality products using indigenous yarn and technology in Africa, but because of limited capacity, it is difficult to have an impact on the US market. "The AGOA agreement is very important for African enterprises, but we need to recognize that most African companies are not big enough to supply large volume demand in the mainstream market of the United States, so it is the opportunity for African companies to seize the market in the US market," he said. He said.

The concept of developing the professional market has also been supported by Mercedes Gonzalez, President of the US global sourcing company. "Africa will never become the next China because it does not have the capacity to mass produce," she said. And African enterprises should use Italy enterprises as a template to learn how they create a new style of market segmentation, because consumers are always hungry for new things.

Gail Stree Keller, assistant to the US textile trade representative, suggested that African companies need to choose the right areas to develop in order to reflect the competitive edge of AGOA. "Besides, African enterprises should keep away from the fast fashion trend, because fashion trends are changing rapidly. Following fashion may not be what African companies are good at, producing uniforms and babies. clothing It may be a suitable choice. "