The impact of recent pandemic on printing and dyeing mills and weavers in Shaoxing

Recently, there were more pandemic local cases in Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Xiaoshan, Hangzhou. These regions are were key areas of textile and chemical fiber, weaving, printing and dyeing in China. Market players were worried about the escalation of epidemic prevention and control, so the sales ratio of mills in these areas was affected, then affecting the demand of the industrial chain, thus attracting high concerns. The impact of the pandemic in Zhejiang on fabric mills and printing and dyeing mills mainly focuses on the following points.

First, it affected receiving and shipping of products and delivery time.

The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 37 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Friday. Of the new local cases, 24 were reported in Inner Mongolia, five each in Zhejiang and Yunnan, two in Heilongjiang, and one in Shaanxi, the commission said. Also reported were 26 new imported cases in 10 provincial-level regions, according to the commission. In order to effectively block the transmission of the pandemic, emergency measures for epidemic prevention and control have been taken or upgraded. The personnel flow and logistics transportation of weavers and printing and dyeing mills have been affected to varying degrees, and there has even been news of shutdown. Therefore, receiving and shipping of feedstock and finished products, as well as the normal delivery time which were about 7-10 days were affected. And normal delivery may be delayed or abnormal.

Second, production and orders were also affected.

The pandemic situation in autumn and winter is severe and complex. The sudden rising pandemic cases in the Yangtze River Delta were bound to have a significant impact on the current unstable supply chain, and the logistics and transportation of weavers and printing and dyeing mills as well as the delivery of goods may be abnormal. It is unknown whether the pandemic will continue to circulate or when it will be eliminated. Thus the uncertainty risk factors exerted a growing impact on the normal orders and production of printing and dyeing mills and weavers.

However, Shaoxing, a city in the north of Zhejiang, has so far reported 27 cases, with 18 closely related to a funeral in its Shangyu district. Shaoxing upgraded its COVID-19 emergency response to the highest level on Thursday afternoon, with one new case reported in its Yuecheng district. Shaoxing's printing and dyeing mills are mainly concentrated in Keqiao and Binhai. In 2020, the printing and dyeing fabric production of the mills above the designated size in Shaoxing was about 21.5 billion meters, of which the output in Keqiao reached 19.15 billion meters, accounting for 89%. It accounted for nearly 37% of the national output of 52.5 billion meters. Therefore, Keqiao District is the largest concentration of printing and dyeing textile industry in Asia, accounting for nearly 40% of the country's printing and dyeing capacity, but Keqiao and coastal areas are not greatly affected by the pandemic, so stay tuned.

Generally speaking, due to the improvement of the level of prevention and control, the receiving and shipping of raw materials and finished products of wavers, and the normal delivery time of the printing and dyeing mills were affected to varying degrees, which also increased the risk of uncertainty in the market, then affecting the orders and production. The impact on the weavers and printing and dyeing mills in the later stage still depends on the development of the pandemic.