In the blink of an eye, the “Silver Four” is coming to an end. Looking back at the textile market since April, how can there be such a thing as “sad”!
First of all, the trend on the raw material side has become increasingly confusing. First, crude oil recorded its largest drop in April, and later, PTA prices rose further, putting polyester prices in a dilemma. Secondly, the already weak foreign trade market has seen continuous increases in sea freight rates. Finally, the gray fabric market has not been able to get rid of the curse of selling goods, and relevant news appears frequently in WeChat Moments.
Faced with this situation, could it be that the traditional off-season has arrived early?
The total number of orders is not as good as in the past, and the volume of orders has shrunk significantly.
Time has come to late April, and the “Gold, Three, and Silver” consumption season is coming to an end. How to ensure the continuity of orders has become a problem that currently plagues textile companies. Through market research, we found that polarization has become the new normal in the textile industry, which is particularly prominent in terms of orders. Many textile bosses even lamented that “droughts will kill you, and floods will kill you.”
Mr. Huang, who specializes in spot fabrics:
“Our company mainly sells domestic products, and the current order maintenance situation is good. Since April, the order volume has increased significantly compared with March. However, there are no best-selling products, and the shipment volume is about the same.”
Manager Wang, who specializes in conventional fabrics:
“We take care of both domestic and foreign trade. After entering April, the order volume has declined. Existing orders can be maintained until the beginning of May. Most of them are about 10,000 meters in size. The largest order is 100,000 meters. The overall order volume is about 100,000 meters less than in previous years. 20%.”
Mr. Shen, who specializes in polyester fabrics:
“This year’s foreign trade situation is not optimistic. Since the customers who often place orders are mainly foreign trade, we have also been affected. The order volume has decreased by 60%-70% compared with previous years, and it can only be maintained until the end of April. The order volume The volume has also shrunk significantly.”
At present, the risk of global economic recession is rising, the growth of external demand continues to slow down, and various “black swan” events occur frequently. These have affected the order maintenance of textile companies. The shortage of foreign trade orders is a certainty, and the feedback from the above-mentioned companies also proves it. Got this. According to the latest data, from January to March 2023, the cumulative exports of textiles and clothing were US$67.23 billion, a decrease of 6.8%, of which textile exports were US$32.07 billion, a decrease of 12.1%, and clothing exports were US$35.16 billion, a decrease of 1.3%.
In addition to the total number of orders being lower than in the past, there are also significant changes in the volume of orders. At present, the orders received by textile enterprises are generally small in size, concentrated between a few thousand meters to tens of thousands of meters. Occasionally, there are orders of hundreds of thousands of meters or hundreds of thousands of meters, and very large orders of millions of meters. Almost extinct. “Quick response”, “low price” and “volume” have become the key words for selling goods in today’s market.
Fluctuations in raw materials affect profit margins, and routines fall into involution
In recent years, due to the blind expansion of the textile industry, the problem of overcapacity has become increasingly serious, and the oversupply situation will be difficult to alleviate in the short term. Especially for the conventional varieties of “bad street” products, in order to maintain customers and ensure business, some companies do not hesitate to sell goods in a “capital-guaranteed” manner and start a “price war” mode. The emergence of this situation will not only lead to a reduction in the company’s own profitability, but will ultimately disrupt the market rhythm. “Any sale of goods below cost price is unfair competition!” said a textile boss.
Manager Jiang, who specializes in nylon fabrics:
“We can’t say it’s a hot seller. Basically, all varieties have some sales. However, the sales performance of 228T Taslan and 280T Taslan bamboo matte are more outstanding. This type of fabric is mainly used to make beach pants, with a profit of 60-82 yuan. about.”
Manager Wang, who specializes in conventional fabrics:
“There are no best-selling products. Our product coverage is wide and profits can be maintained within the normal range. If the price increase of raw materials is not large, we can only absorb it by ourselves; once the price increase exceeds expectations, we will negotiate with customers to re-price.”
Mr. Shen, who specializes in polyester fabrics:
“There are no products with particularly good sales volume. The price of gray fabrics is still mainly stable at present, and it is lucky not to reduce prices. If the raw materials continue to be high and the order situation cannot be improved, we will only implement production cuts and holidays in the future.”
Since April, the price of polyester filament has fluctuated. After the sharp rise, as polyester manufacturers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang started promotion mode, the price of polyester yarn dropped. However, the magnitude of the reduction is not as high as the previous increase, resulting in the production costs of weaving companies still being high.
Those varieties whose pricing relies heavily on raw materials appear extremely passive at this time. Generally, the production threshold for such products is very low, so there are many manufacturers, the market size is also extremely large, and the selling price is even lower. The emergence of high-priced raw materials will directly compress their already meager profit margins. Enterprises are not willing to use high-priced raw materials to produce low-priced products. Instead of hanging on to the end, it is better to reduce production and take holidays. As a result, the operating rate of weaving enterprises in the sample declined.
Postscript:
In early May, the textile market will usher in the product selection season. Some textile companies stated that��, autumn and winter fabrics have begun to be sampled and ordered one after another. The quantity has been significantly reduced compared with the same period in previous years, and the frequency of inquiries for differentiated fabrics is higher. Therefore, in the increasingly fierce market competition, improving corporate competitiveness with innovative design and reconstructing advantages with differentiated products may become an important direction for fabric companies to seek development.
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