China's textiles & apparel exports in January-September: decreasing price VS increasing volume

According to customs statistics, from January to September in 2024, the total value of China's imports and exports in renminbi amounted to 32,325.18 billion yuan, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. Among these, exports were 18,614.74 billion yuan, up 6.2% year-on-year; imports were 13,710.44 billion yuan, up 4.1% on annual basis; and the trade surplus was 4,904.3 billion yuan. In US dollar terms, the total value of China's imports and exports was 4,545.82 billion dollars, an increase of 3.4% over the same period of last year. Among these, exports were 2,617.66 billion dollars, up 4.3% year-on-year; imports were 1,928.16 billion dollars, up 2.2% on the year; and the trade surplus was 689.5 billion dollars.

In terms of textile and apparel exports, from January to September, the cumulative export value of textiles and garments in renminbi was 1,581.65 billion yuan, growing by 2.2% year-on-year. Among it, textile exports was at 741.71 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8%, and apparel exports of 839.94 billion yuan, which remained flat compared to last year. In US dollar terms, the cumulative export value of textiles and garments was 222.41 billion dollars, an increase of 0.5%. Among it, textile exports approached 104.3 billion dollars, up 2.9%, and apparel exports was at 118.11 billion dollars, down 1.6%.

By category, the export of fibers and apparels decreased, with fiber exports mainly affected by the downturn in synthetic fibers, and apparel exports impacted by woven apparels. The specific details are as follows:

Relative to the weaker overall price, the export volume of textiles and apparels performed moderate year-on-year in the first three quarters.

From January to September, the growth in the export of integrated apparel categories was 11.92%. Among these, the export volume of knitted apparels increased by 11.54% year-on-year, woven apparels exports saw a growth of 12.19%, while fur apparels export volume decreased by 25.93%. Export volume of other apparels saw an increase of 21.51%, the total yarn export volume decreased by 3.6%, fabric exports increased by 6.87%, and finished product exports grew by 16.01%.

Specifically, the export volume of chemical fiber yarn decreased by 4.56% year-on-year, while the export volume of chemical fiber woven fabrics increased by 4%. The export volume of knitted apparels made from chemical fibers increased by 12.75% year on year, and the export volume of woven apparels made from chemical fibers grew by 13.01%.

The export volume of cotton yarn increased by 19.57% year-on-year, while cotton fabric exports decreased by 3.63%. The export volume of cotton knitted apparels increased by 7.37%, and the export volume of cotton woven apparels moved up by 11.35% over the same period of last year.

In terms of unit prices year-on-year, except for the export unit price of chemical fibers, the unit prices for other major categories all declined. In particular, the unit prices for clothing and finished products decreased by 11.72% and 9.24% respectively compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Examining the changes in export values from major trading partners, ASEAN contributed the most to the growth of China's textile and apparel exports, with a year-on-year increase of 6.1% from January to September. In contrast, developed economies represented by the United States, the European Union, and Japan showed divergent performances, with the U.S. doing better than Europe, while Japan experienced a nearly 10% year-on-year decline.

Currently, the economic and retail performances among the U.S., Europe, and Japan were relatively mixed. U.S. retail remained resilient, with retail sales in August increasing by 0.1% month-on-month, better than expected, and July's data was revised up by 0.1 percentage points to 1.1%. In August, sales at clothing and accessory stores grew by 1% year-on-year, with a month-on-month decline of 0.7%. Sales in general merchandise stores (including department stores) increased by 2.1% year-on-year but decreased by 0.3% month-on-month, indicating that the current U.S. economy still showed resilience. Retail in the European Union remained relatively stable. Preliminary estimates indicated that, seasonally adjusted, the retail trade in the Eurozone increased by 0.1% from June to July 2024, with the EU seeing an increase of 0.2%. In June 2024, retail trade in both the Eurozone and the EU declined by 0.4%. Retail in Japan was relatively sluggish, with reduced spending. From January to August, Japan's textile and clothing retail saw a year-on-year increase of 0.9%. Authoring changes outside of June and August, other months witnessed varying degrees of decline. Household spending decreased in August in Japan.

Consequently, there were also differences in textile and apparel import volumes in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Data showed that from January to August, the year-on-year cumulative imports of textiles and apparel in the U.S., EU, and Japan were 6.9%, 4.3%, and -2.2%, respectively. In the short term, overall overseas textile and apparel inventories are not high and buyers may mainly procure to cover the pressing demand.