This year, affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, not only the textile industry, but also almost all export industries have been hit hard. As time goes by, economies around the world have gradually recovered, and foreign trade has finally shown signs of recovery.
Trader Manager Yang:
The company mainly exports recycled fabrics. After August, the export volume of recycled fabrics has greatly improved, with one shipment every day. The amount of two cabinets. Recycled fabrics are mainly exported to European and American countries, which can reflect the fact that European and American orders are improving.
However, while foreign trade is picking up, the risks involved cannot be underestimated.
Marine shipping has exploded, and freight rates have generally risen across the board
Recent paragraph Over time, as the foreign trade situation gradually recovered, maritime trade began to become extremely hot, and market freight rates rose across the board. Container shipping costs from China to the United States continue to rise.
On August 28, the Shanghai Shipping Exchange released the latest weekly report on China’s export container shipping market. The report shows that the market volume continues to grow at this stage, and market freight rates have generally increased across the board. The market freight rates (sea freight and sea freight surcharges) exported from Shanghai to the basic ports of the West and East US are US$3,639/FEU and US$4,207/FEU respectively. The US East route has exceeded the US$4,200/FEU mark.
The surge in freight has brought great cost pressure to the foreign trade exports of textile people, but in addition to freight , there are still greater risks in the foreign trade market.
“Made in China” saves the risk of returns
A few days ago, the aviation and trade circle of friends received the following notice:
In accordance with US customs and border requirements , from now on, all goods sent to the United States through all channels must have a “Made in China” label on the outer box and product, otherwise the local import is not allowed!
Checking the certificate of origin was originally a relatively normal thing, but if it is related to the recent tensions between China and the United States, If we link this up, the textile people will have to worry. If there is no guarantee that one day Trump will “attack”, some very conventional textiles will become the target of the other party and face risks such as returns, confiscation or fines.
In fact, the suppression of Chinese textiles has already begun.
Ban Xinjiang cotton
Recently, the U.S. government requires Americans and non-U.S. persons to gradually end their relations with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps before September 30, 2020 Transactions between entities that directly or indirectly own 50% or more interests; if the relevant transactions cannot be closed before September 30, you need to seek guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department. In order to reduce trouble and avoid risks, some U.S. customers have explicitly proposed banning Xinjiang cotton in their orders.
Xinjiang is my country’s main cotton-producing region. In 2019, Xinjiang’s cotton output reached 5.002 million tons, accounting for 85% of my country’s overall cotton output. It can be said that most of China’s cotton spinning products are made from Xinjiang cotton.
Cotton, as the most basic and common natural textile fiber, has an irreplaceable position in textile production. It is foreseeable that after the United States bans Xinjiang cotton, textile foreign trade companies will inevitably bear greater pressure.
In the game between China and the United States, rigid needs are still there
At this stage Sino-US relations are confusing and unpredictable, which has brought great uncertainty to China’s textile exports. But on the other hand, at least at this stage, China’s textiles are still irreplaceable.
On Tuesday local time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued an announcement stating that the tariff exemption period for some products, including masks, would be extended for four months until the end of 2020. In fact, it is easy to understand. Because the epidemic in the United States is getting worse, products such as masks belong to a seller’s market, so tariffs will not be used to restrict imports.
Mr. Wang, the head of a textile company that specializes in anti-epidemic supplies, said: “Under the influence of the epidemic this year, the company’s exports to foreign countries have not decreased but increased, especially in the U.S. market. At this stage, the demand for protective clothing is increasing. Big.”
But on the other hand, due to China’s “world factory” attributes, Southeast Asia’s textile industry, which is currently catching up, will find it difficult to catch up with China in terms of industrial chain, technology, etc., either because the price/performance ratio is not good, or the product quality is not good. Therefore, in the short term, China’s textiles are also in urgent need, and it is impossible to completely ban them.
It can also be seen from the news of rising freight rates mentioned above that although the situation between China and the United States has been very tense recently, exports to the United States have not decreased but increased, which has also driven up the freight rate.�It’s gone up. In fact, Sino-US tariffs broke out last year, and orders that should be reduced have been reduced. If the U.S. economic order can be restored, there will still be no shortage of orders.
Postscript
Due to the fermentation of the epidemic and the general election As the pandemic approaches, foreign trade, especially the U.S. market, has been experiencing constant mishaps recently. Trump is desperately trying to play the so-called “China card” in order to get rid of the blame for his ineffective fight against the epidemic. However, as the foreign trade market gradually picks up, business that should be done must still be done. Textile people can only consider various risks as much as possible in the process of doing business and carefully avoid them. </p
