Clothing Processing Plants In Many Parts Of Asia Are Indirectly Affected By The Outbreak.

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Due to the outbreak of the outbreak of new coronavirus, many places were restricted by quarantine and travel, and the supply chain related to China was forced to break down.

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Burma Hunter Myanmar has been making clothing for Italy fashion brands. But two weeks ago, the manager informed the factory that 900 employees were about to shut down. This is a bolt from the blue for the 31 year old Burma worker, Aye Su Than.

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Aye Su Than, who has been pregnant for 5 months and has a salary of $130 a month, said: "they said there were no buyers or orders, so they had to shut down the factory because of the virus." She added that she received a compensation of $320 from the factory, but when the reporter contacted the factory, the factory declined to comment.

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This is not an example. With the spread of the coronavirus epidemic from China to the whole world, industrial supply chains in many parts of the world have been disrupted, and the textile industry in Asia is facing large-scale layoffs and layoffs. According to statistics from the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2015, Asia's textile industry accounts for 60% of global apparel textiles and footwear.

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International brands such as UNIQLO and Adidas have a wide network of suppliers. It is possible to transfer production to China to fill gaps in the production of the largest garment and textile manufacturers in the world. Earlier, officials in Turkey said that due to the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic in China, many fashion retailers would transfer their production orders to Turkey producers.

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Fashion giant H&M group also said that H&M's clothing supply chain has not yet seen severe supply delays. But if the crisis continues, retailers will eventually face a shortage of clothing.

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H&M spokeswoman Eureka listen said: "we maintain close ties with Chinese suppliers and evaluate them with them every day. In addition, the company is exploring other raw material producers."

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Dependence on China's raw materials

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Manufacturers in Southeast Asia are very dependent on materials, buttons and zippers from China. Under the influence of the epidemic, manufacturers everywhere are scrambling to find alternative suppliers of raw materials such as fabrics, buttons and zippers. Clothing exporter Siddiqur Rahman said, "overnight transfer destination is not easy, but buyers are now looking for the source of their raw materials urgently."

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He said factories in Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan and India are looking for alternative suppliers of raw materials, but the consequence is that costs will soon rise.

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Rahman said, "I don't think buyers want to pay more, but finding alternative suppliers is not so easy. In the long run, we have to look outside China to survive."

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Kampuchea said this week that 10 factories have applied for suspending operations and paid some wages to about 3000 workers. The Phnom Penh government estimates that due to the influence of coronavirus, 200 companies will slow down or stop production in March this year, which will affect more than 100 thousand employees in the industry. The clothing industry is the largest industry in Kampuchea, creating an annual revenue of 7 billion US dollars for the Kampuchea economy.

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Previously, the company has reported that at least four garment processing plants in Kampuchea may be temporarily suspended because of the delay in the supply of raw materials imported from China due to the outbreak of the new crown virus.

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Bangladesh is the second largest garment manufacturer in the world after China. Although the factory is still in operation, anxiety is worsening. "No one knows what will happen in the future, but the owners of big factories are very worried," said Mohammed Nasir, director of the Bangladesh garment manufacturers and Export Association.

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Ready-made clothing is the pillar of the Bangladesh economy. In the six months ended June 2019, garments accounted for nearly 16% of the national output and about US $34 billion in exports. Bangladesh has about 4000 garment factories, employing nearly 4 million workers.

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Nasir said: "we will import 70% of woven fabric raw materials from China, and goods will not arrive on time. The garment industry will be affected. If China's crisis continues, the impact will be very serious."

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Burma's industry is small but more dependent on China. China has supplied about 90% of textiles to Burma. Although Burma has so far not reported any cases of viral infection, it has closed the land border to prevent infection from disrupting the supply chain.

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The Burma Apparel Manufacturers Association warned that if the crisis continues, half of Burma's nearly 500 factories will be closed in March. Aung Min, vice president of garment manufacturers association, said: "although we can export goods, we can not predict what will happen in the next two months."

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Not long ago, the Vietnamese textile and clothing association chairman Vu Duc Giang also said that due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus outbreak on the supply chain impact, since the second quarter of this year, Vietnamese garment manufacturers will face severe shortage of raw materials.