The textile industry sets the lowest export record for nearly 20 years

According to the latest statistics released by the customs， the total value of Chinas imports and exports of goods in the first quarter was 6.57 trillion yuan， a decrease of 6.4% over the same period last year. Among them， exports were 3.33 trillion yuan， down 11.4%. The pandemic disrupted the rhythm of export enterprises resumption of production， and allowed the textile industry to set the lowest export record for nearly 20 years.

Judging from the development of the current pandemic situation， Chinas main export market is not expected to be optimistic， and exports will continue to decline in the second quarter， and the decline will further expand. The only thing worth looking forward to is that as a large number of enterprises in China adapt to the current situation and quickly switch to production， the supply of anti-pandemic materials currently available for export is sufficient. The tightening of the overseas pandemic situation has created a large demand for pandemic prevention materials. The United States has included masks and protective clothing in the tax exclusion list. The export of this part of products will form a peak in the second quarter， which will have a weak positive pulling effect on the overall export.

According to the weekly report （April 1 to 8） released by the CNTAC and the data from the cluster survey， 85.7% of the 522 companies and 28 industrial clusters participating in the survey and 89.3% of the industrial clusters feedback existed insufficient orders； 57.1% of the surveyed companies reported encountering customer cancellations， an increase of 6.3 percentage points from the survey a week ago. In addition， the proportion of enterprises with orders less than 50% of the normal situation was 27.7%， an increase of 4.5 percentage points from a week ago. The shortage of export orders is more prominent， and the proportion of enterprises whose export orders are less than 50% of the normal situation is as high as 70.2%， which is 9 percentage points higher than a week ago.

Weekly data and cluster survey data also show that the pressure of insufficient end market demand and declining export orders has now been transmitted to the entire industrial chain. Textile companies are generally facing greater operating pressure. Since the resumption of production， the steadily increased capacity utilization rate has gradually declined. According to reports， it is expected that the textile industry capacity utilization level in the next two months will face further downward pressure.

According to data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textile and Apparel， from January to February 2020， the textile and apparel trade volume was USD 34.39 billion， down 17.8% year-on-year. Among them， exports were USD 30.55 billion， down by 19.9%； imports were USD 3.83 billion， up by 4.5%， and the cumulative trade surplus was USD 26.72 billion， down by 22.5%. It is worth noting that， in February， the textile and apparel export value fell by 62% year-on-year， setting a historical record of 25 years. In addition， the cumulative export value of textile and apparel in January to February also reached the lowest value in nearly 20 years.

Although the textile industrys foreign trade exports fell to a large extent， the pandemic situation will not lead to accelerated industrial transfer. In the early stage of the pandemic， due to Chinas full prevention and control， the rate of resumption of work and production was low， and order production and export were affected to a certain extent. However， from the current point of view， more than 90% of Chinas enterprises have resumed production at the end of the first quarter， and production capacity has recovered rapidly. At the same time， with the spread of foreign pandemic， countries and regions that can compete with Chinas textile industry cannot afford to be alone； in addition， major importing regions such as Europe and the United States are significantly reducing transaction volumes， and the risk of order transfer is reduced accordingly.

The impact of the pandemic will continue for a long time， and insufficient demand is the main contradiction. Although Chinas pandemic prevention and control situation is steadily improving， the domestic demand market has not experienced rebound growth. In addition， Chinas export industry chain is large in scale， and there are obvious differences between domestic and foreign export industries， further increasing the difficulty for export enterprises to resell domestic demand markets. Authorities in the industry recommend that companies should be cautious to maintain low-speed operations while actively exploring market opportunities， and steadily overcome difficult times.