Global Economy: Vietnam And Bangladesh'S Textile And Clothing Exports Keep Growing, While Turkey'S Exports Tend To Weaken

Since this year, the global economy has been moving forward slowly in uncertainty. The efforts of monetary policies of various countries to combat inflation have gradually taken effect, but the pace of recovery of some developed economies is still weak. Against the background of weak demand, the international supply chain continues to be in a period of deep adjustment, and the global textile and clothing export market shows a trend of differentiation. Vietnam and Bangladesh's exports keep growing; India's export of cotton textiles decreased, but the export of chemical fiber products and carpets performed well; Turkey, on the other hand, is subject to the policies of high inflation and tariff increase, and its textile and clothing exports have weakened.

　　 Vietnam Textile and Garment Export Statistics

According to the statistics of Vietnam Customs, the export volume of Vietnamese textiles and clothing (excluding yarn) from January to September this year was 27.34 billion US dollars, up 8.9% year on year; The export of yarn was 3.26 billion US dollars, basically the same as the same period last year. In September, Vietnam exported 2.98 billion dollars of textiles and clothing, up 16.0% year on year; The export of yarn was US $340 million, a year-on-year decrease of 9.9%.

Since 2024, Vietnam's textile and clothing exports have maintained the good momentum since the second half of 2023, achieving steady growth. The year-on-year growth rate of exports in January was as high as 39%, the highest growth rate in the first half of 2024. By June, the cumulative growth rate of exports had slowed to 4.6%. In the third quarter, the growth rate began to pick up slowly. From the perspective of major markets, Vietnam's textile and clothing exports to the United States, Japan and China increased from January to September this year. Among them, Vietnam's exports to the United States reached US $12.01 billion, up 9.1% year on year; Exports to Japan and China amounted to US $3.13 billion and US $980 million, up 6.4% and 18.3% year on year respectively. Over the same period, Vietnam's textile and clothing exports to South Korea fell 1.9% year-on-year to 2.38 billion US dollars.

Figure 1 Cumulative year-on-year amount of Vietnam's yarn, textile and clothing exports from January to September 2024

Since the third quarter of 2022, the clothing retail industry in the United States has been in the stage of reducing inventory, and the replenishment signal is not obvious, and the competition for foreign trade orders has become more intense. Relying on relatively low labor costs and expanding supply capacity, Vietnam has obtained more purchase orders for textile and clothing products, and its exports to the United States have grown steadily. Vietnam has become the largest clothing supplier to the United States.

In January this year, Vietnam's yarn export increased by 66% year on year. Since then, the growth momentum has slowed sharply. By September this year, Vietnam's yarn exports had reached US $340 million, down 9.9% year on year and 11.6% month on month. Vietnam's yarn is mainly exported to China, and China's demand for Vietnam's cotton yarn has declined due to the increased operating pressure of domestic cotton mills.

Vietnam's textile and clothing exports face important opportunities and challenges. Vietnam's textile industry has used a number of free trade agreements to promote export growth, and gradually occupies an important position in the global industrial chain. At the same time, it has demonstrated a strong adaptability in diversified supply and technological innovation. But at the same time, the increasingly strict environmental protection and sustainable development requirements of major export markets such as Europe and the United States have brought pressure on Vietnamese textile enterprises. Based on the recovery of orders of textile enterprises in the first half of the year, the Vietnam Textile and Clothing Association set the export target of textiles and clothing for this year at US $44 billion.

　　 India Textile and Garment Export Statistics

The estimated export data of August 2024 released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India shows that in August this year, India exported 1.01 billion dollars of cotton textiles to the world, a year-on-year decrease of 9.4%; The export of clothing reached US $1.27 billion, up 11.9% year on year. In addition to chemical fiber textiles, jute products, carpets and other products, India's textile and clothing exports in August totaled 2.86 billion US dollars, up 1.8% year on year.

India is an important global producer and exporter of cotton fiber and cotton products, with a large output of cotton raw materials and yarn. In recent years, India's cotton output has continued to shrink due to extreme weather, reduced planting area and other factors. The annual output will gradually decline after reaching the peak of 36 million bales in fiscal year 2020 (2020.4~2021.3), and the export of cotton textiles will decline accordingly.

Bangladesh Textile and Clothing Export Statistics

According to the data of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh exported USD 43.85 billion of clothing to the world in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2023/24 (2023.7~2024.5), an increase of 2.9% year on year. Among them, the export of knitted apparel reached 24.71 billion US dollars, up 6.2% year on year; The export of woven garments reached US $19.14 billion, down 1.1% year on year. Over the same period, Bangladesh exported US $2.7 billion of textiles to the world, down 4.1% year on year.

From the perspective of major markets, Bangladesh's exports to the markets of developed economies such as the EU, the United Kingdom and Australia grew rapidly in the first 11 months of the 2023/24 fiscal year. Among them, Bangladesh exported 21.65 billion dollars of clothing to the EU, up 2% year on year, accounting for 49.4% of global exports; Exports of clothing to the UK reached 5.16 billion US dollars, up 12.3% year on year, accounting for 11.8%. During the same period, Bangladesh exported US $7.47 billion of clothing to the United States, a year-on-year decrease of 3.4%, accounting for 17% of its total clothing exports; Exports of clothing to China reached US $310 million, up 23.2% year on year, accounting for 0.7%.

At the beginning of this year, political unrest in Bangladesh caused social unrest. Frequent protests and strikes led to the closure of ports and the obstruction of the supply chain, which seriously affected the supply of raw materials and order delivery, and had an impact on its textile industry. According to BGMEA statistics, more than 30% of export orders were delayed or cancelled, and about 150 small and medium-sized textile factories were forced to shut down or temporarily suspend production. In May, the amount of Bangladesh's clothing exports decreased by 17.2% year on year. Although the situation in Bangladesh has stabilized by about August, the impact on the textile industry in Bangladesh may continue throughout the second half of the year.

Turkish textile and clothing export statistics

According to the data released by the Turkish Statistical Bureau on September 27, Turkey's export of textiles and clothing to the world from January to August 2024 was US $20.72 billion, down 3.7% year on year. Among them, textile exports reached 8.74 billion US dollars, basically unchanged compared with the same period last year; Garment exports reached US $11.98 billion, down 6.3% year on year.

Turkish textile and clothing enterprises are favored by many European brands because of their flexible supply chain and strong production capacity in the field of high-quality fabrics and technical textiles. More than 60% of the country's ready to wear and clothing products are sold to the European market. However, in recent years, factors such as the reduction of consumption demand in European and American markets and the rising cost caused by high inflation in Turkey have weakened the competitive advantage of Turkish textile and clothing exports. In addition, at the end of last year, the Turkish government announced to levy tariffs on hundreds of imported textiles, with an increase of 30% - 100%. The new tax policy further squeezed the profit space of the textile industry, and the Turkish textile and clothing industry is facing challenges.

(Source: China Textile International Capacity Cooperation Enterprise Alliance)