Recently, some textile people said with emotion, “Today is different from the past. Ten years ago, people were digging for gold in the textile industry, and 10 years later, they are working in the textile industry.”
For the development process of the textile industry, 10 years is neither short nor long. From gold mining to working, what is the current situation of the textile industry?
01 Overcapacity, supply and demand encounter challenges
In the past three years, the textile business was not easy to do, and it can be said that the mask was the fault. After entering 2023, the orders of some textile companies are still lower than expected. When the fig leaf of the epidemic is ruthlessly lifted, why is the textile market affected?
In daily surveys, local weaving companies are extremely concerned about the implementation of peripheral production capacity, and their deep concerns about overcapacity are revealed between the lines.
A weaving company said, “Although Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been committed to the elimination of backward production capacity, most of the production capacity that should have been eliminated has been transferred elsewhere, and the number of landings has basically doubled. The expansion of peripheral production capacity has become unstoppable, leading to Our living space is constantly being squeezed.”
Data show that as of the end of 2022, the scale of looms in my country’s filament weaving industry reached 836,000 units, including 770,000 water-jet looms, a year-on-year increase of 5.48%. In this way, it is only a matter of time before the number of looms exceeds one million.
In addition to the substantial increase in the number of machines, equipment is also updated very frequently, developing towards higher speeds. According to statistics, my country’s total output of chemical fiber filament fabrics will reach 59.5 billion meters in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 6.82%.
As a buyer-dominated market, assuming that it takes 2 meters of cloth to make one piece of clothing, 60 billion meters of fabric can make 30 billion pieces of clothing. The current global population is about 8 billion. Just one year’s fabric production is enough to have 3.75 per capita. piece of clothing.
It can be seen that the problem of overcapacity is difficult to alleviate in the short term, and under the serious imbalance of supply and demand, how can textile people be alone?
02 Information transparency requires both cheapness and quality
At present, the textile industry seems to have entered a strange circle. Some people summed it up this way: those who sell spot goods say that they can make money by opening dyeing factories, those who open dyeing factories say that they can make money by selling white fabrics, and those who sell white fabrics say that they can only make money by making raw materials, and the reverse is true for those who make raw materials. It is said that it is better to make money by doing spot goods. Anyway, no one said they made money, so where did the money go?
Not long ago, a textile boss complained to the editor that it is really difficult to make money now. In the past, polyester taffeta could be sold for 2-3 yuan/meter. Looking back now, when customers place orders, they often say: “XX’s polyester taffeta price has dropped below 1 yuan/meter. We have cooperated for so many years, can you make it at this price?”
Polyester taffeta is the most conventional variety. That company sold the goods at a “floor price”, perhaps just to quickly withdraw funds.
With the advent of the information age, the textile market has become more transparent, and customers have become more and more sophisticated. They want both cheap prices and stable quality. Therefore, when there is a low-price sale in the fabric market, they will not purchase rashly. Instead, they will negotiate with partners with low prices.
In addition to the lower price of fabrics, clothing, finishing and other aspects have also suffered varying degrees of involution. Take digital printing as an example. Currently, the price quoted by digital printing companies is generally 1.5 yuan/meter, and the digital printing price of some companies has been as low as 1.2 yuan/meter. Relevant people joked, “If the quotation drops further, I’m afraid we will think that the printing is not ink but tap water.”
In 10 years, the textile and clothing industry has entered the era of e-commerce. The rise of e-commerce has caught people off guard, confused them, and even made them hesitant. Some people say that this year is the most difficult year in the industry, although they said the same thing last year. Therefore, if you cannot adapt to the changes and find a way to break the situation, it may become more difficult every year…
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