In March, China's home textile exports saw rapid growth, leading to a slight positive growth in exports during the first quarter. However, the performance was uneven across major global markets and exporting provinces and cities. Exports to the US and EU markets still saw significant declines, and exports from the Yangtze River Delta region remained weak.
March's surge in exports boosted first-quarter export growth.
In the first three months, China's home textile exports reached US$7.51 billion, an increase of 1.1%. March alone saw exports of US$3.1 billion, a 27.5% increase. The data shows that after the fluctuations during the Spring Festival and the end of domestic epidemic control measures, monthly export volume has again returned to the high level of over US$3 billion per month seen in the last quarter of last year. However, whether this can be sustained in the second quarter remains to be seen. If monthly export volumes reach over US$2.66 billion in the second quarter, it's expected that China's home textile exports in the first half of the year will achieve stable growth.
Exports to the US and EU markets still show significant declines and no significant improvement.
China's top four export markets for home textiles are the United States, the European Union, ASEAN, and Japan. In the first quarter of this year, China's home textile exports to the US and EU markets experienced significant declines, with export values of US$2.12 billion and US$820 million respectively, representing decreases of 14.9% and 20.6%; exports to Japan reached US$600 million, down 7.3%; and exports to ASEAN reached US$1.16 billion, up 54%. Among other major markets, exports to Singapore increased by 3.9 times, to Saudi Arabia by 38.3%, and to Australia by 18.7%.
Major product categories show mixed export performance.
In the first quarter, exports of major product categories varied, with mixed results. Carpets and kitchenware exports grew rapidly, with increases of 14.1% and 15.6% respectively; blankets, tablecloths, and towels saw small increases, ranging from 2% to 7%; bedding, the largest category, showed a slight decline of 1.7%; and other decorative products and curtains saw larger declines, at 9.8% and 11.2% respectively.
Furthermore, the upward trend in the average export price of major product categories continues. The average export price growth of blankets, tablecloths, carpets, and other decorative products ranges from 8% to 20%, with only towel products showing a 3.2% decrease in average export price.
Exports from the Yangtze River Delta region remain weak. Guangdong's exports show counter-cyclical growth.
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, and Shanghai rank among the top five provinces and cities in China's home textile exports. Only Guangdong saw export growth of 39.8%, while other provinces and cities experienced declines. Jiangsu and Shanghai saw significant declines of 16.8% and 16.3% respectively, while Zhejiang and Shandong saw small declines of 3.7% and 5.5% respectively. Among other provinces and cities, Hunan and Xinjiang saw rapid export growth, increasing by 1.3 times and 2.2 times respectively. Furthermore, Guangdong's rapid export growth is mainly driven by the markets in Singapore and Australia.
China's market share in the US, EU, and Japanese markets declines with significant fluctuations.
GTF statistics show that in January and February 2023, the US imported US$2.44 billion worth of home textile products, a decrease of 21.3%, with imports from China decreasing by 31.9%, accounting for 39.2% of the US market share, a decrease of 6.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year. During the same period, US imports from India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Vietnam decreased by 12.9%, 10.6%, 23%, and 10.7% respectively, all lower than the decline from China. Among the main import sources, only imports from Mexico increased by 18.8%.
In January and February, the EU imported US$1.57 billion worth of home textile products, a decrease of 20.3%, with imports from China decreasing by 26.5%, accounting for 34.7% of the EU market share, a decrease of 3 percentage points compared to the same period last year. During the same period, EU imports from Pakistan and Turkey decreased by 6.9% and 16.3% respectively, lower than the decline from China. EU imports from India and Bangladesh both decreased by over 26%, higher than the decline from China.
In January and February, Japan imported US$450 million worth of home textile products, a decrease of 11%, with imports from China decreasing by 12.2%, accounting for 71.5% of the Japanese market share, a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to the same period last year. During the same period, Japanese imports from Vietnam and India decreased by 4.5% and 27.2% respectively.
In summary, while China's home textile exports surged in March, the performance of its major markets and main production areas in the east was uneven. The growth may have come from cross-border e-commerce rather than traditional foreign trade. Some major companies reported that second-quarter orders have stabilized, but no significant improvement has been observed. The sustainability of the growth remains to be seen. In addition, US container throughput increased by 6.9% month-on-month in March, and the Retail Merchants Association predicts that imports are expected to rise rapidly in the coming months, reaching pre-pandemic levels. However, the import volume of home textiles in the US, EU, and Japanese markets had already recovered to or exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2022. It is expected that it will be difficult for these three major markets to further expand the scale of home textile imports and find new growth points this year. Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the 'Opinions on Promoting the Stable Scale and Optimized Structure of Foreign Trade', which will provide more support to foreign trade enterprises in terms of cross-border business personnel exchanges, financial support, innovation and development, and optimization of the development environment. The home textile industry should also take advantage of this opportunity to accelerate transformation, upgrading and innovation, build a new development pattern, and actively promote high-quality development of the industry.
