The foreign trade report card for the first quarter is here! In the first quarter, my country’s total import and export value of goods trade was 8.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 29.2% over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 4.61 trillion yuan, an increase of 38.7%; imports were 3.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.3%; the trade surplus was 759.29 billion yuan, an increase of 690.6%.
But when visiting companies this year, many people said that it is difficult to do foreign trade business due to the impact of the international situation. Why is the data so good?
Let’s take a look at a picture first. This picture may give the answer. The picture below is the top 10 imported goods of the United States in February 2023. It can be seen that compared with other products, textiles and clothing account for The share can be said to be shivering in a corner, with a year-on-year decrease of 22.3%. Broken down by the degree of pull, “the textile and apparel category even dragged down the year-on-year growth rate by 1.02 percentage points.
Economic recession in European and American countries
Thunderstorms in major European and American banks have become one of the hottest news this year. On the surface, the liquidity crisis led to the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse, but the root cause was interest rate hikes and a crisis of trust. The outbreak of the Silicon Valley Bank incident was both unexpected and expected. For years, interest rates in the U.S. Treasury market have been distorted, putting multiple pressures on the banking industry that borrows short and buys long. Banks’ profits mainly come from loan profits, which is the difference between interest rate income and interest rate costs. When the Treasury rate curve is distorted, long-term interest rates are lower than short-term interest rates, causing banks to make less money when lending funds.
Thunderstorms in European and American banks may have an impact on residents’ consumption levels. A credit crunch may occur due to bank failures or financial distress, making it difficult for consumers to obtain credit. This could lead to less consumer spending, which could impact economic growth. In addition, bank thunderstorms may trigger turbulence and panic in the financial market, reduce investor confidence, reduce investment in areas such as the stock and real estate markets, and also have an impact on consumption levels.
Limitations of the Textile Industry
However, among all types of export goods, the textile industry actually has great limitations. It is similar to the “furniture and toys” that are also at the “tail of the crane”. Let’s take textiles and clothing as an example. This week the editor visited During the market, a foreign trade boss who made clothing fabrics said: “Inflation among foreigners is very severe now. The money in the hands of ordinary people does not have enough purchasing power. They are not particular about wearing clothes. Naturally, it will be difficult for us to do business.”
In these quiet times, there are more or less a lot of clothes bought in the past two years in the wardrobe at home. As long as they are enough to wear, you can save as much as you can on the purchase of clothes. In life, food, clothing, housing and transportation, only food is the most important thing. A theme that is in demand every day, otherwise the Engel coefficient would not be defined by the proportion of total food expenditures in total personal consumption expenditures.
Fabrics are becoming more durable
Although clothes are enough to wear, clothes as consumables also have a certain service life. Just like when I buy clothes, I always buy a few cotton T-shirts very cheaply. If they wear out in one year, I will buy them again next year at most, but we The local market is mostly made of chemical fiber fabrics. The main point of chemical fiber fabrics is that they are durable and will not break down after being worn for a period of time like natural fabrics such as cotton and silk.
Originally, the fastness of chemical fibers is higher than that of natural fibers. After the weaving process and post-finishing process of weavers, the fabrics will become stronger and more durable, which further prolongs the purchase cycle of people’s clothes. Looms are constantly producing cloth, but what you can see is that a lot of fabrics are now stocked in traders and spot supermarkets. Many people say that the spot supermarket was originally a supermarket but now it has become a fabric warehouse for a clothing company.
Sales models have also begun to change
From the perspective of terminal clothing companies, current clothing companies have increasingly higher requirements for “quick reaction” of fabrics. Why is this? First of all, the sales model of clothing companies has changed. In the past, clothing companies sold clothes before they were ready, but now clothing companies adopt a pre-sale model, purchasing fabrics after knowing how many clothes will be sold. This can avoid a large amount of fabric accumulating on the garment end.
Secondly, clothing companies or brands are now making more co-branded/limited editions. These operations are also to control their fabric inventory, because such products are generally not mass-produced, and the production quantities are It is within the control of clothing enterprises. Therefore, there are more and more cloths on the textile market. Although the gray cloth data is in a stable state, the stockpiles of ready-made supermarkets are unimaginable.�
But clothes are always a necessity for people. The market may not be good now, but when residents’ consumption levels return to normal, textile and clothing consumption still has great potential.
</p
