Garment industry performance in the first half year

By+Zhao+Zihan

Production

Monthly growth rate of apparel production in above-designated companies presented a slowdown trend month by month.

According to National Bureau of Statistics， from January to June 2015， the above-designated enterprises in garment industry saw a total output of 14.198 billion with a year-on-year increase of 1.36%， a dropping of 2.40 percentage points compared with the same period in 2014. Wherein the woven garments were 7.579 billion pieces， while 6.619 billion pieces went to knitwear， up by respectively 2.59% and -0.03% year on year.

During the first half， the garment production completed in the eastern， the middle， and the western areas increased 1.06%， 1.22%， and 13.46% respectively year on year while the northern-east part showed a year-on-year decrease of 18.13%. （Table 1）

Market domestically

Basically stable with a slight upward trend

National Bureau of Statistics data show that during the first half， retail sales were totaled 14.1577 trillion yuan， up by 10.4% year on year， 1.7 percentage points lower over the same period last year. Among them， the clothing retail sales from above-norm enterprises were totaled 455.1 billion yuan， an increase of 10.3% year on year， 0.3 percentage point higher than the same period last year.

According to statistics of the China National Commercial Information Center， in the first half of 2015， clothing retail sales from national hundred key large retailers grew by 3.7% year on year， 2.5 percentage points higher over the same period last year. However， retail sales in June grew by 1.2% year on year， and the growth rate slowed 4.9 percentage points from the previous month， and 1.2 percentage points lower compared with a year earlier.

From January to June， various types of clothing retail from the national hundred key largescale retail enterprises showed an increase of 7.2% year on year， 9.0 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The domestic textile and garment market generally ran stable within a reasonable range during the first half of the year. And the mainly monitored 43 markets saw a total turnover of 401.623 billion yuan， an increase of 4.29% year on year.

Export

More fluctuations， amplitude contraction， trend for the better

According to the Customs statistics， from January to June in 2015， Chinas total exports of clothing and accessories were totaled 76.208 billion USD， down by 4.56% year on year， a decrease of 8.85 percentage points compared with the same period in 2014. Garment export volume reached 14.258 billion pieces， down by 6.18% year on year， 12.6 percentage points lower compared with the same period in 2014. The average garment export unit price was 4.31 USD/ piece， up slightly by 0.47% year on year， an increase of 2.75 percentage points over the same period in 2014.

Among them， knitted garments and accessories saw exports of 35.219 billion USD， down by 9.87% year on year， and the export volume were 9.023 billion pieces， down by 12.32% year on year， while the exports of woven garments and accessories rose slightly by 0.08% year on year to 35.168 billion USD， and the export volume were 5.236 billion pieces， an increase of 6.7% year on year. Garment export growth in the first half was negative， but seen from the changes of each month， the negative is narrowed and there is a trend for the better.（Table 2）

Performance

According to the National Bureau of Statistics， from January to May this year， 15，723 above-designated enterprises in garment industry realized a total main business income of 800.896 billion yuan， an increase of 6.60% year on year， a reduction of 3.26 percentage points from the same period in 2014. The profit was totaled 44.02 billion yuan， an increase of 7.94% year on year， a dropping of 4.09 percentage points compared with the same period in 2014.

The businesses suffering losses reached 2，701， a percentage 17.68%， down by 0.26 percentage point compared with the same period in 2014.

Investment

According to the National Bureau of Statistics， during the first five months in 2015， the apparel industry in China actually completed investment 149.546 billion yuan， a growth of 28.09% year on year. Construction projects were 4，133， an increase of 4.69% year on year. New projects were 2，678， a rising of 19.66% year on year. The number of completed projects was 1，239， down by 4.4% year on year.

Prospects

It is expected to see a relatively stable growth in the second half of the year thanks to the positive signal of Chinas economy as well as the new foreign trade momentum from cross-border e-commerce and FTA. At the same time， promotion of the personalized and diversified clothing consumption trends and technological progress provides opportunity and space for the apparel industrys upgrading and transformation as well as the changes of growth power. However， opportunity stands by challenges， and market uncertainty still exists， it is still urgent and arduous in development of the industry.