China'S Foreign Trade In Textiles And Clothing In August

From January to August, China's textile and clothing trade volume reached 221.83 billion US dollars, an increase of 8.1% year-on-year and 14.5% compared with the same period in 2019. Among them, exports amounted to US $203.19 billion, up 6.8%, 14.6% over the same period in 2019; Imports reached US $18.63 billion, an increase of 25%, an increase of 13% over the same period in 2019. The cumulative trade surplus was $184.56 billion, up 6.2%, and 13.7% compared with the same period in 2019. In August, the trade volume of textiles and clothing reached US $33.43 billion, a slight increase of 0.2% year-on-year, 20.5% higher than that of the same period in 2019, and a month on month growth of 6.8%. Among them, the export was US $30.89 billion, a decrease of 1.6%, an increase of 20.2% over the same period in 2019 and a 6.8% increase on a month on month basis; Imports reached US $2.54 billion, an increase of 28.8%, an increase of 23.2% over the same period in 2019, and a month on month increase of 6.3%. The trade surplus of the month was 28.35 billion US dollars, an increase of 3.8%, an increase of 20% compared with the same period in 2019, and a month on month increase of 6.9%.

Demand recovery and order return benefit export

In the first eight months, textile and garment enterprises generally reflected that hand orders were relatively sufficient, which deviated from the downward trend of new order index in PMI, and exceeded the export expectation in the second half of the year. According to the preliminary judgment, textile and clothing export is mainly driven by factors such as the recovery of external demand and the serious epidemic situation in Southeast Asia, which leads to the backflow of orders. The economic recovery of major economies and the recovery of foreign demand will provide strong support for the steady consolidation and growth of export in the whole year under the conditions of many uncertain factors.

A large number of factories in ASEAN's major garment producing countries were forced to shut down due to anti epidemic measures. Factories in southern Vietnam and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in particular, were forced to shut down in mid July. Major brand customers from the European Union and the United States have moved out their orders one after another. At present, some enterprises reflect that the return orders are close to 30% - 40% of the orders in hand, and the domestic textile and garment manufacturing industry is booming for a short time. It is expected that as the epidemic situation in ASEAN and other major manufacturing countries is gradually controlled, the return trend of orders in the fourth quarter will be slowed down. In the long run, compared with Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and other countries, China has no competitive advantage in terms of purchase price. At present, the order transfer is only a short-term phenomenon, and it is difficult to completely switch back to domestic production.

At present, the biggest negative impact on export enterprises is still the rising sea freight. In September, China Textile Import and Export Chamber of Commerce conducted a round of questionnaire survey on the freight dynamics of enterprises. Enterprises generally reflected that the current freight rates were still rising, container freight rates of North American routes were close to 30000 US dollars, and the freight costs of enterprises increased sharply. In addition, due to the appreciation of RMB, the rise of commodity prices and the local production restriction, the profits of foreign trade enterprises dropped sharply. The company said that the export of clothing, home textiles and other products to the United States has almost no profit to speak of, and received orders only to maintain customers. After July this year, the epidemic situation in Southeast Asia became severe again, and a large number of orders returned, which further increased the difficulty of chartering and booking space, and hindered exports to a certain extent. According to the questionnaire, the number of cases that cannot be ordered is second only to the price rise. About 1 / 3 of the enterprises surveyed put this in the first place in maritime logistics difficulties.

Japan's exports to Europe and the United States rebounded, while ASEAN fell for the first time

In August, China's exports to key markets showed different performances. Exports from the United States, the European Union and Japan rebounded significantly. Due to the severe epidemic situation in Southeast Asia, China's exports to ASEAN fell for the first time in the year.

In August, China's exports to the United States decreased for the fourth consecutive month, but the decline rate shrank to 12.5%, 5% lower than that in July, and the cumulative exports to the United States still maintained growth. From January to August, China's exports to the United States reached 36.88 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%, and an increase of 17.9% over the same period in 2019. Among them, large categories of knitted and woven clothing increased by 40.7%, 8.1% compared with the same period in 2019.

In August, the decline of China's exports to the European Union further contracted, with a decrease of 10.5% in the same month, and the decline rate was 15% lower than that of the previous month. Among them, the growth rate of large categories of knitted and woven garments recovered to 6.2%. From January to August, China's textile and clothing exports to the EU reached 31.07 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 19%, and an increase of 12.4% over the same period in 2019. Among them, the export of knitted and woven garments increased by 15.3%, 2.9% compared with that in 2019.

In August, China's exports to Japan recovered slightly, with a decrease of 3.8% in the same month, a decrease of 10 percentage points compared with that of the previous month, and the decline of large categories of knitted and woven garments stopped falling and rose by 8.5%. However, in the long run, the Japanese market lacks the momentum of stable growth and will continue to fall to the main tone in the future. From January to August, China's textile and clothing exports to Japan decreased by 8.1% year-on-year, and increased by 2.7% compared with the same period in 2019. Among them, the key commodities of knitted and woven clothing increased by 7.7% year-on-year, 7.2% lower than that in 2019.

China's exports to ASEAN fell by 5% in August, mainly due to the 18% decline in clothing. Although the yarn fabrics of major categories still maintained growth, the growth rate decreased to 6.7%. From January to August, China's textile and clothing exports to ASEAN increased by 24.3% year on year, the fastest growth among the four major markets. It is 22.2% higher than the same period in 2019. Among them, yarn fabrics of key commodities increased by 30.5% year-on-year, 6.1% higher than that in 2019.

It is worth noting that from the import data of the three major markets, China's total imports from July and from January to July showed negative growth, and the decline of epidemic prevention materials was the main reason. Enterprises have recently reported that it is quite common for ASEAN's major competitors to return orders to China due to repeated outbreaks, but there is no clear indication from the import data of key markets in July. Imports from the European Union, the United States and Japan all fell sharply, and the market share of Chinese products was further reduced.

From January to July, the 27 EU countries imported US $73.83 billion from the world, a decrease of 5.6%, and a decrease of 34.4% from China. China accounted for 32%, which was lower than the same period in 2020 and still higher than that in the same period of 2019. Among them, textile accounted for 41%, clothing accounted for 28.2%, both lower than in 2020, higher than the same period in 2019. ASEAN's market position has been further improved. EU's textile and clothing imports from ASEAN increased by 30.6%, accounting for 13.2%, both higher than those in the previous two years.

From January to July, the United States imported 76.75 billion US dollars from the world, an increase of 16.6%, and a decrease of 9.7% from China, with China accounting for 30.2%, lower than the same period in 2020 and 2019. Among them, textiles accounted for 29.8% and clothing accounted for 21.5%, lower than the same period in 2019 and 2020. The import of textiles and clothing from ASEAN increased by 32.1%, accounting for 25.6%, both higher than the previous two years.

From January to July, Japan imported US $20.04 billion from the world, a decrease of 7.1%, and a decrease of 13.8% from China. China accounted for 54.7%, lower than the same period in 2020, but higher than that in the same period of 2019. Textile accounted for 57.4%, lower than the same period in 2020, higher than the same period in 2019; Clothing accounted for 53.8%, higher than the same period in 2020, lower than the same period in 2019. The import of textiles and clothing from ASEAN increased by 1.9%, accounting for 29.5%, both higher than the previous two years.

Export rebound of anti epidemic textiles to ASEAN

In August, the export of textiles decreased by 14.2% in the same month, and the decline rate was significantly reduced compared with the previous period. Among them, yarn, fabric and finished products increased by 43.6% and 26.6% respectively over the same period of last year, and the finished products decreased by 39%. Clothing exports maintained a moderate growth of 9.6%. The export of medical masks to ASEAN from July to August totaled 380 million US dollars, rising by 5.9%. In August, the export of protective clothing to ASEAN increased by 83% compared with that in July.

From January to August, textile exports totaled US $93.8 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11%, an increase of 18.2% over the same period of 2019, and clothing exports of US $109.39 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.8% and an increase of 11.7% over the same period of 2019. Among them, the export of masks and protective clothing totaled 11.442 billion US dollars, down 79% year-on-year. After removing masks, textiles increased by 40% year-on-year, 11.9% over the same period in 2019; The clothing without protective clothing increased by 42% year on year, 10.5% higher than that in 2019. Masks and protective clothing accounted for 5.6% of the total exports. The cumulative growth rate of major commodity yarn and fabric woven clothing was 48.1%, 40.7% and 26.6% respectively.

The export of key provinces and cities improved significantly compared with last month

In August, the export situation of major provinces and cities in China was better than that of last month. Among the top five provinces and cities, Zhejiang did not continue the downward trend of last month. In the same month, the export growth of Zhejiang recovered by 12.4%. The export growth of Shandong and Fujian both rebounded compared with that of last month. Jiangsu stopped falling and turned up, increasing by 7.5%, and Guangdong's decline was reduced to 30%.

From January to August, except for Guangdong, the top five provinces and cities in export growth, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian increased by 14.3%, 9.2%, 21% and 28.2% respectively, and Guangdong decreased by 8.1%. The growth rate of Xinjiang and Hebei was still at the top, with an increase of 81% and 45% respectively.

Import of key commodities increased

Imports maintained a good trend. The import volume increased in three consecutive months and achieved double-digit growth for six consecutive months. In August, imports reached US $2.54 billion, up 28.8% year-on-year and 6.3% month on month. Among them, textile imports were 1.42 billion US dollars, up 34% year-on-year, and clothing imports were 1.12 billion US dollars, an increase of 22.6%. The import of yarn, fabric and knitwear increased by 46.3%, 36.9% and 26.1% respectively.

From January to August, the imports of yarn, fabric and knitted and woven garments of key import commodities increased by 43.5%, 18.3% and 39.2% respectively, all in the high-speed growth range.

Cotton imports fell rapidly in a single month

Since the beginning of the year, cotton imports have shown an obvious trend of price reduction and rise. The import volume has fallen month by month, while the import price has risen month by month. In August, cotton imports continued to shrink, with 87000 tons of imports in that month, falling back to the level in June last year, 39% year-on-year and 39.9% month on month. The price of imported cotton continued to rise, rising by 39% to 2100 US dollars / ton in the same month.

From January to August, the cumulative import of cotton increased rapidly, with 1.777 million tons imported from the world, an increase of nearly 50% over the same period of last year. The cumulative average import price was 1860 US dollars / ton, up 9.4%.

According to the information released by the China Cotton Association, in August, the textile market remained stable, the domestic cotton prices continued to rise, all the reserved cotton rotation transactions continued to be completed, the commercial inventory decreased, and the industrial inventory increased steadily.

In August, the turnover of reserve cotton was hot, and the spot price of cotton rose all the way. On August 18, the annual high was set at 18542 yuan / ton; At the end of the month, the state issued a policy to restrict non textile enterprises from bidding for reserve cotton, and domestic cotton prices dropped slightly. On August 31, China's cotton price index (ccindex3128b) was 18127 yuan / ton, 396 yuan higher than July 30, and 5419 yuan higher than that on July 30; The average monthly price was 18016 yuan / ton, with an increase of 1071 yuan and a year-on-year increase of 5540 yuan. International cotton prices rose sharply, and the gap between domestic and foreign cotton prices narrowed at the end of the month. China's import cotton price index FC index m was 105.05 cents / pound, up 5.34 cents month on month, up 34.91 cents year-on-year. On August 31, the price was 107 cents / pound, up 5.08 cents month on month. The 1% tariff was reduced to 17037 yuan / ton, which was lower than 1090 yuan of domestic spot in the same period. The price difference between domestic and foreign cotton was reduced by 590 yuan compared with the end of last month.