A brief introduction to the operation of domestic cocoon silk industry in 2017

By Zhao Zihan

In 2017， fueled by domestic consumption and export demand， the cocoon and silk industry continued to make a turnaround. There was an increasing volume of purchase and rising prices in silkworm cocoons throughout the country. The incomes of silkworm raisers hit a new high； the prices of cocoon silks maintained an upward trend； and the enterprise benefits of the silk industry were increased as well.

Agricultural link

The area of mulberry fields wad reduced to a smaller extent， and the yield of silkworm cocoons stopped decreasing and turned better. According to the data submitted by 20 major production provinces （regions）， the area of mulberry fields throughout the country was 11，831，000 mu in 2017， which was 66，000 mu less than the previous year and decreased by 0.6% and contracted 2.8% compared with the same period last year. From the perspective of different regions， in the western region， the area of mulberry fields was increased by 1.7% compared with that in the same period last year， and the areas of mulberry fields in the eastern and central regions were decreased by 8.8% and 0.8% respectively as well. The quantity of seed distribution in the whole year was 15，916，000 pieces， which was 2.8% higher than that in the previous year； the yield of silkworm cocoons was 643，000 tons， which was increased by 3.6%， that is， an increase of 22，000 tons compared with the yield of the last year， putting an end to the situation of “four consecutive declines” since 2013. In respect of regions， the yields of silkworm cocoons in the western and eastern regions were increased by 5.1% and 0.6% respectively compared with that in the same period last year， and the yield of silkworm cocoons in the central region was dropped by 2.8%.

There was an increasing volume of purchase of silkworm cocoons， and the incomes of silkworm raisers hit a new high. According to the data submitted by 20 major production provinces （regions）， the volume of purchase of silkworm cocoons in the whole country was 616，000 tons in 2017， a year-on-year growth of 3.4%， of which， the volume of purchase of silkworm cocoons in the western region was increased by 4.9%. The average purchase price of silkworm cocoons was 2369 yuan /50 kg， up by 23.6% from the previous year， and the increase was 10.7% advance from the previous year. Thereinto， the prices in Anhui， Jiangxi， and Shaanxi rose the fastest by 50.6%， 38% and 34.3% respectively， and the prices in the main production areas such as Guangxi， Sichuan， Yunnan， and Guangdong were all expanded by more than 20%， and the purchase prices of autumn cocoons grew by 25.8% from the same period last year， up by 13.2% compared with those of spring cocoons. The incomes of silkworm raisers by selling silkworm cocoons were 2，919，000 yuan， which was up 27.8% from the previous year and 23.5% higher than the high point in history in 2013， creating a new high. With respect to regions， the incomes of silkworm raisers in the eastern region rose by 18.5%， and were increased by 29.6% in the central and western regions.

Industrial link

The prices of dried cocoons fluctuated upward， while the prices of raw silks were on the rise obviously. The prices of dried cocoons continued the upward trend of the previous year， and fluctuated upward in the whole year. The average price of dried cocoons in 2017 was 108 yuan / kg， up by 9.1% compared with the last year and rising 6.4% from the same period last year， of which the average price in November was the highest point in the whole year， and the price of dried cocoons was 114.2 yuan/kg， 9.7% higher than the low point at the beginning of the year. On the other hand， the prices of raw silks were on the rise obviously. In 2017， the average price of 3A-level raw silks was 362，000 yuan/ton， up by 12.2% compared with the last year； the average price of 5A-level raw silks was 416，000 yuan/ton， up by 19% compared with the last year.

The output of raw silks and silk fabrics declined slightly and the regional structure is “increase in the west and decrease in the east”. According to the data of National Bureau of Statistics， in 2017， the output of raw silks was 142000 tons， a decrease of 1.9% compared with the last year. In respect of regions， the outputs in the western and central regions took up 66.6% and 9.6% of the total quantity respectively， expanded by 1.6% and 0.4% from the same period last year； the output in the eastern region accounted for 23.8%， contracting 2%. The output of natural silks and intertextures （including： natural silks ≥ 50%） was 0.6 billion meter， a decline of 2.7%.

The benefits of silk enterprises were enhanced as a whole， but the amounts of loss of unprofitable enterprises were on the decrease. 797 （16 enterprises less than the end of the last year） silk enterprises above designated size in the whole country earned the main business income of 120.36 yuan in 2017， a year-onyear growth of 5.5%， and the increase speed was 1.3% higher than that of national textile industry enterprises； these enterprises realized the total profit of 6480 million yuan， an increase of 7.7% over the last year. The scale of losses of the silk industry was 10.8%， contracting 1.5% compared with the last year； the total amount of loss of unprofitable enterprises was 220 million yuan， a decrease of 23.3% over the previous year， and a drop of more than 17% over the national textile industry， of which， the total amount of loss of reeling silk processing enterprises was reduced by up to 50.5%， according to the monitoring data of Ministry of Commerce.

Trade link

There was a speed increase in the domestic sales of real silk goods， and the sales of silk satin made up an increasing ratio. In 2017， the domestic sales amount of 50 silk sample enterprises in the country was 4.57 billion yuan， up by 7.1% from the previous year， and the rate of increase was expanded by 5.8% from the last year. In addition to that the domestic sales amount in January was slightly lower than the previous year， the domestic sales amounts in the remaining months were higher than the level from the same period last year， and the domestic sales amount in the fourth quarter was substantially raised by 11.8%. compared to the same period last year. With regard to categories， the domestic sales amounts of real silk satin and real silk apparels made up 1.4% and 0.4% respectively from the same period last year； the ratios of domestic sales amounts of home textiles， real silk clothes and other categories of goods contracted by 1.1%， 0.5% and 0.2% respectively， according to the monitoring data of Ministry of Commerce.

The exports of real silk goods rebounded sharply， and the proportion of finished goods continued to expand. After declining for three consecutive years， the export amount of real silk commodities rose sharply in 2017， reaching the highest level since 2008. According to statistics from the customs， the export amount of real silk commodities was 3.56 dollars in 2017， a year-on-year growth of 22.9%. Among them， the ratios of exports to the United States， India， and Italy in their total export amounts were decreased by 3.4% - 1.4% and 1.2% respectively compared with the previous year； the exports to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia increased rapidly， and their ratios were expanded by 3.7% and 3.9% and ranked the third and the fourth places respectively， and besides， their export amounts were only lower than those of the United States and India. The export of finished silk goods took up 67.3%， up by 7.6% from the previous year， which was the highest record in recent years； the export amounts of silk and satin goods were down by 2.8% and 4.8% respectively.

Although the whole industry made a turnaround， several endogenous problems still restrict the healthy development of the industry， for instance， backward way of silkworm breeding and mulberry growing， insufficient enterprise competitiveness， delayed brand construction， low added value of products and unstable quality of cocoons， and moreover， the rapid rise in prices may restrict the downstream consumption， which requires the whole industry to pay constant attention and strive to work out the problems.