The COVID-19 epidemic is still raging, but all parts of our country are overcoming all difficulties to resume production, and of course our textile industry is no exception. The end of the year and the beginning of the year have always been a time when orders in the textile industry are high, especially in March and April after the year, which is almost the peak of orders for the whole year. In order to keep up with the market in a timely manner, although the start-up time in various places has been significantly delayed in the early stage, or even delayed indefinitely, many textile companies have begun to tentatively start production.
—The shutdown is different from the past—
This production shutdown due to the impact of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic is completely different from the usual production reduction and shutdown due to environmental protection and other factors. The usual shutdowns are mainly subject to the local policies at the time. As long as the policies are relaxed, the resumption of production only takes a matter of minutes, but this time it is different. Because there are many difficulties facing the textile industry, and it may take longer than expected for the entire textile industry to enter production.
There is a shortage of workers and production is unsustainable
” There are no workers in the factory to produce.” This is a situation that almost every textile factory that has resumed production will encounter this situation. Due to the needs of the epidemic, most places have adopted methods such as city closures, road closures, reducing train frequency, and stopping passenger transportation to reduce the flow of people and reduce the risk of epidemic spread. During the implementation of these policies, workers were also restricted from returning after the holidays.
In addition, some key epidemic areas are often labor-exporting provinces, and their travel is even more restricted. Many workers in our textile industry come from these provinces. Even if they can reach their workplace, they often need to self-isolate for 14 days. For some factories with a high proportion of non-local workers, it is often difficult to sustain even one production line, so the significance of starting operations is not great. Therefore, many factories in the market that have obtained permission to start construction are still waiting and watching.
The epidemic is not just hindering the return of employees in factories It also prevents unemployed workers from other places from coming to look for work. Because many areas are currently only open to people with local household registration, real estate, and jobs, they are basically rejected for ordinary job seekers with the “three noes”. To some extent, it also reduces the number of workers, making it more difficult for the factory to recruit people after the new year, and it also slows down the speed at which the factory enters normal production.
The factory’s slow resumption of production is not only due to its own internal problems, but more importantly, the scarcity of orders.
Foreign trade orders have a tendency to decrease
The next few months of the year should have been a period of orders and shipments. It is the peak season for goods, but the shutdown caused by the epidemic has caused delivery delays for many foreign trade orders. Because clothing sales are highly seasonal, once a piece of clothing is missed, it may not be available for sale until the next year. This will inevitably lead to inventory, capital backlog, and increased sales risks in the coming year, etc. Therefore, after all, only a small number of customers can accept the delay in delivery. Most customers simply cancel orders directly or look for new manufacturers overseas.
According to an employee of a foreign trade company, their company is an Indian company , they all purchase fabrics from China, process them into clothing in India, and then sell them to the European market. Due to the impact of the epidemic, they have just started working recently and are working from home. Since most of the current domestic factories cannot produce, their order samples and quotations are basically sent to some countries in Southeast Asia.
Not only are their suppliers adjusting, but even their demand priorities are changing. Because the epidemic has led to extremely hot sales of protective clothing, their company is currently making adjustments in this regard, and many previous suppliers are basically out of use and need to be redeveloped. However, the demand for protective clothing fabrics is limited after all, and the number of orders cannot be compared with the number of orders for ordinary clothing in the past.
Changes in consumer shopping habits
This epidemic has not only firmly trapped consumers at home, but also taken away the attention of the whole society. People’s daily consumption basically revolves around daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil and salt, while textiles and clothing are somewhat insignificant.
All clothing stores on the market are basically closed, not only because there are no consumers coming to consume, but also because of the lack of attention to clothing stores. Consider the life safety of your own employees.
Of course, consumers are reducing clothing consumption not only because of the decrease in clothing stores in the market and travel restrictions, but also because the epidemic has led to reduced working hours and affected income. It also made many people��Realized the importance of having cash on hand. Therefore, consumers need to make rational choices during consumption and avoid waste. Non-urgent needs such as clothing are often put on hold.
As the impact of the epidemic continues, people’s consumption habits have undergone profound changes, and online clothing sales may be the direction of development. But in the short term, because logistics is not yet normal, online shopping will be relatively small.
The epidemic has led to a reduction in clothing sales in the market and a delay in the start of textile factories. The start of construction has been delayed again. This has affected the issuance of foreign trade orders, and the reduction in foreign trade orders has further slowed down the opening of factories. For the textile industry to enter normal production, there are still many problems that need to be solved. However, it is first necessary to ensure that all workers return as early as possible and enter production status in time, and then further attract orders from all parties.
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