The first three quarters of textile and apparel import and export overview

After three months of continuous decline, China's textile and apparel exports rebounded in September, with the monthly export volume reaching 25.13 billion U.S. dollars, a record high in the year. Due to Christmas orders and the stabilization of the U.S. economy, the contraction rate of the new export orders has contracted and the growth of exports has been promoted.

In September, China's trade volume of textiles and garments was US$27.26 billion, an increase of 9%, of which exports were US$25.13 billion, up 9.3%, imports were US$2.13 billion, up 4.6%, and the monthly trade surplus was US$23 billion, up 9.8%.

From January to September, the cumulative trade volume of China's textile and clothing reached US$205.32 billion, an increase of 1%, of which exports were US$187.16 billion, up 0.5%; imports were US$18.17 billion, up 6.4%. The cumulative surplus was 168.99 billion U.S. dollars, which was basically flat.

forms of commerce

General trade export growth processing trade imports slightly lower

In September, exports of all major trading methods increased. General trade increased by 11.8% and processing trade increased by 1.1%. In the first three quarters, exports from major trading methods performed poorly. Cumulative exports from general trade increased by only 0.5%, and processing trade fell by 2.3%.

In the month of September, general trade imports increased by 15.4% and processing trade decreased by 2.8%. In terms of imports, general trade grew rapidly in the first three quarters, with a cumulative increase of 26% and a 3.8% decline in processing trade.

Business partner

EU market drags overall export garments to boost ASEAN’s status

EU: In September, China exported 4.14 billion U.S. dollars to the EU, a drop of 5.2%. Although the year-on-year decline was narrower than the previous year, it was down 21% month-on-month and the market remained sluggish. In the first three quarters of the year, the EU’s export situation was the worst among the key export markets in China. Its textile and apparel exports reached US$36.17 billion, a decrease of 13.5%. From the perspective of export product structure, the main product apparel decreased by 15.6%, and the export unit price dropped by 2.7%.

United States: The U.S. economy is slowly recovering and exports to the United States have increased slightly. In September, China exported 3.96 billion U.S. dollars to the United States, an increase of 3.6%, of which textiles grew by 2.4% and clothing rose by 4%. From January to September, China’s textile and apparel exports to the United States increased slightly, with a total value of US$29.46 billion, up 3.4%, of which textile exports were US$7.44 billion, up 6.9%, and apparel exports were US$ 21.92 billion, up 2.3%.

Japan: In the month of September, China’s exports to Japan have not yet been negatively affected by politics. The current month’s exports reached US$3.2 billion, hitting a new high during the year, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. Among them, garment exports increased by 4.4%. There were more than 10,000 export companies to Japan this month, an increase of nearly 400 over the same period last year. In the first three quarters of this year, cumulative exports to Japan totaled 20.16 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 1.4%. The increase was lower than that of the United States and ASEAN. Among them, garment exports increased by 1.8%, exports of knitwear and woven garments decreased by 5.9%, and average export unit prices increased by 7.6%.

ASEAN: The increase in exports to ASEAN is far more than average, and clothing substitute textiles have become the main driving force for growth. In September, China’s exports to ASEAN rebounded to US$2.19 billion, an increase of 36.7%. From January to September, China’s total exports of ASEAN textiles and clothing amounted to US$17.29 billion, an increase of 20.8%, an increase far exceeding the average value. China's exports to ASEAN are mainly textiles, and textiles have been the main growth driver for many years. However, since the beginning of this year, the main driving force for growth has come from clothing. In the first three quarters, the cumulative export volume of yarn fabrics totaled 8.68 billion U.S. dollars, up 10.7%, pulling 6.3 percentage points, and garment exports 5.98 billion U.S. dollars, up 53.3%, pulling 14.5% points.

product structure

Yarn increase overtakes fabrics

In September, China’s textile and apparel exports all stopped falling, by 7.5% and 10.3% respectively. In textiles, yarns increased by 15.8%, which was higher than that of fabrics and finished products; the export volume and value of knitted and woven garments in clothing increased by 7.3% and 10.9% respectively, and the unit price of exports increased by 3.3%.

From January to September, China's textile and apparel exports rose by 0.2% and 0.7% respectively. The export of yarns and fabrics in textiles has all declined, and only finished products have grown. Among the yarn fabrics, the decline in cotton products was the most rapid, and the total value of cotton yarns and fabrics fell by 7.1%. In apparel, the export volume of knitted and woven garments decreased by 3%, and the unit price of exports increased by 3.3%.

Import Profile

Imports of cotton yarn maintain rapid growth. Cotton imported over 4 million tons during the year

In September, China’s textile and apparel imports increased by 5.6% and 1.1% respectively. Textiles were mainly driven by cotton yarns in yarns. The monthly cotton yarn import volume reached 138,000 tons, an increase of 62.3%. The import price of cotton yarn continued to fall, falling by 7.5% in September and falling by 16.1% from January to September.

From January to September, China’s textile imports totaled 14.79 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 4.6%, and apparel imports were 3.38 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 15%. The import of fabrics and textiles made from textiles decreased. Only the yarns kept growing, and they grew rapidly. The import volume and value increased by 35.2% and 21.6% respectively.

In the first nine months, cotton imports experienced dramatic ups and downs, and monthly imports fell from a peak of 62.5 tons in March, and fell to 263,000 tons in September. From January to September, cotton imports totaled 4.03 million tons, an increase of 107%. There is still a big gap between the price of imported cotton and domestic cotton. The price of imported cotton this month was 2,360 US dollars per ton, down by 16.7%.

Chemical fiber imports maintained a slight increase. From January to September, the cumulative import volume and value increased by 1.5% and 0.7%, respectively, and the unit price of imports remained basically unchanged. In September, imports rebounded in the previous months, and the decline in import volume narrowed to 1.6%. However, the unit price of imports fell unabated, and the decline narrowed to 6%.