Recently, the three major textile giants have made big moves in this field!
On June 6, Hengyi Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hengyi Petrochemical”) announced that the company’s subsidiary Jiaxing Yipeng Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hengyi Petrochemical”) The “500,000 tons of differentiated functional fiber improvement and transformation project with an annual output of 500,000 tons per year” constructed by “Jiaxing Yipeng” has been officially put into operation recently, with a total of 500,000 tons of differentiated functional high-quality FDY added per year. According to Hengyi Petrochemical, FDY downstream products such as pongee can be used to produce protective clothing, and sales have been booming recently.
On June 8, Xinfengming Group Co., Ltd. announced that the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tongxiang Zhongyou Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhongyou Chemical Fiber”) plans to Own funds or self-raised funds are invested in the construction of new material projects, with a construction area of approximately 1,400 acres. Among them: the total investment for annual production of 2 million tons of differentiated direct-spun polyester staple fiber is 6.55 billion yuan, the total investment for 1 million tons of functional differentiated fibers is 3 billion yuan, and the total investment for 300,000 tons of polyester film and other supporting new materials is 1.45 billion yuan. The project construction period is estimated to be 60 months.
On the same day, the 33rd anniversary of the founding of Lutai, its functional fabric smart ecological park began trial production. Lu Thai Functional Fabrics Smart Ecological Park is jointly invested and established by Lu Thai and Hong Kong United Industry Garment Co., Ltd. Its main business is the research and development, production and sales of yarns, fabrics and functional membrane materials. The first phase of trial production covers an area of about 200 acres, with a construction area of nearly 100,000 square meters, and an investment of about one billion yuan.
In recent years, functional fabrics have been the darling of outdoor sports, leisure sports and other fields. This year The two major textile giants have deployed functional materials, which also means that “functionality” is still a “must compete” for leading companies!
In the era of the epidemic, “antibacterial” fabrics have become a high-frequency vocabulary!
Amidst the epidemic, “antibacterial” has become the hottest keyword nowadays. In the past, these two words were mostly associated with things like water purifiers and air purifiers. Linked together, it has appeared frequently in the clothes we wear recently.
“In previous years, when it comes to functional fabrics, they all have windproof, moisture-wicking, deodorizing and other functions. But this year, antibacterial and antiviral fabrics are very popular. Recently, we are making samples for foreign customers. , it is estimated that if we can produce sample clothes by the end of the month, we will be able to produce large quantities of goods.” said Mr. Chen from a company specializing in outdoor fabrics in Wujiang area.
It is reported that the antibacterial fabrics currently circulating on the market are mainly divided into two types. One is yarn antibacterial and antiviral. This is made by adding silver ions and jade powder to the raw materials, thus containing Antibacterial and antiviral function, the advantage is better durability; the other is antiviral through late-stage additives, which is also a widely used and cost-effective product at present, but the disadvantage of additives is their washing resistance and storage resistance. Not as good as the former, but the fabric produces better results.
No matter which way, it is the “big hit” of functional fabrics this year. “Currently, we mostly use pongee or Taslon for coating, and then use antiviral additives to achieve the antibacterial effect that customers want. However, the number of orders is not large now, but the added value of the fabric is much higher than conventional ones. The selling price has generally increased by 2-3 yuan/meter,” said another trader, Mr. Zhang.
In addition, the market share of other functional fabrics has gradually expanded, whether it is graphene fabrics, which have been popular in recent years, or “evergreen trees” in functional fabrics, such as flame-retardant fabrics, anti-static fabrics, and anti-bacterial fabrics. Products such as deodorizing and anti-UV fabrics are favored by domestic and foreign brands.
Some people are happy and some are sad! Sales of regular autumn and winter fabrics encounter obstacles!
As mentioned in many previous articles, the current overall textile market is still weak and difficult to change. The long-term demand in the end market is difficult to revive, the overall load is low, and the transmission to fabrics is also limited. , resulting in the main weakness in the gray fabric market.
“The business of many garment factories has not been good recently. Some garment factories in Guangdong have been hoarding inventory for several months. Most retailers want to clear their inventory first before launching new products, so they are interested in fabrics. The demand will definitely be greatly reduced,” said Mr. Wu, a fabric trader. “We have been making a lot of samples recently, but we haven’t received a single order.”
In June, polyester taffeta, pongee and other products that were still out of stock in the early stage began to be shipped out in the market Slowing down, many manufacturers have entered the inventory accumulation stage again after experiencing a wave of inventory destocking. “Orders this month are significantly lower than last month. There are still a small number of orders on the market, but we have not placed any orders. During this period, the inventory has been rising.” said Mr. Chen, the person in charge of a textile company with hundreds of looms. “The market obviously feels that it has entered the off-season, and we have stopped some machines this month.”
（���Monitoring data from China Silk City Network shows that the inventory of gray fabrics in Shengze has recently risen again to about 42-43 days)
Currently, in addition to the situation where weaving companies are facing “not enough” orders, In addition, the rising cost of raw materials has also increased their operating burden. After three rounds of price increases, the raw material inventory of most weaving companies has reached a high level this year, occupying most of the company’s working capital.
In addition, raw materials have increased but gray fabric prices have not. The contradiction between overcapacity in the market has further intensified, making cloth bosses eager to withdraw funds, and market prices are chaotic. “Raw materials have increased by nearly a thousand yuan during this period, while the price of gray fabrics has dropped by 1-2 cents. If orders still don’t come in, we will consider taking a holiday because we can’t afford production.” said Mr. Wang from another fabric manufacturer.
Editor’s Note
Under the epidemic, the textile industry is facing “high costs, high inventory, and low orders” In this predicament, most textile companies are desperately trying to save themselves. At this time, larger companies develop new varieties and expand sales channels through their own R&D and financial advantages, while conventional companies survive in troubled times by changing their own business methods or production methods. In the second half of the year, with the further start-up of domestic demand and foreign trade market, it may lead to the recovery of the industry, and textile people can also get rid of the current “stretched” embarrassment!
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