Analysis Of Chinese Textile Exports From January To October 2023

China's home textile foreign trade exports have slightly declined in the first ten months of this year, with significant export fluctuations, but still relatively stable compared to the overall export situation of the textile and clothing industry. Currently, after experiencing growth in August and September, home textile exports returned to a downward trend in October, and the cumulative amount still maintained a small negative growth. However, as the export market in traditional markets such as the United States and Europe gradually recovers and overseas inventory is consumed, the export market is expected to gradually stabilize in the future.

October exports saw a decline, while the cumulative decline increased. After experiencing a small increase in August and September, China's home textile exports fell 3% in the month of October, with export value dropping from $3.13 billion in September to $2.81 billion. From January to October, China's home textile cumulative exports reached $27.33 billion, a slight drop of 0.5%, which expanded by 0.3% compared to the previous month.

In terms of major product categories, carpet, kitchenware, and tablecloth exports maintained positive growth. Specifically, carpet exports reached $3.32 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%; kitchenware exports reached $2.43 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%; and tablecloths reached $670 million, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. In addition, bedding exports amounted to $11.57 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.8%; towel exports were $1.84 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.9%; and exports of blankets, curtains, and other decorative products continued to decline, with declines of 0.9%, 2.1% and 3.2%, respectively, with declines all narrowing compared to the previous month.

Exports to the United States and Europe are accelerating while exports to emerging countries are slowing down. China's home textile exports to the top four markets are the United States, ASEAN, the European Union, and Japan. From January to October, exports to the United States reached $8.65 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5%, with the cumulative decline continuing to narrow by 2.7 percentage points compared to the previous month. Exports to ASEAN reached $3.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, with the cumulative growth rate slowing down by 5 percentage points compared to the previous month. Exports to the EU reached $3.35 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5%, narrowing by 1.6 percentage points compared to the previous month. Exports to Japan reached $2.17 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 12.8%, expanding by 1.6 percentage points compared to the previous month. Exports to Australia reached $980 million, a year-on-year decrease of 6.9%, with the decline narrowing by 1.4 percentage points.

From January to October, exports to countries along the "Belt and Road" reached $7.43 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%. Exports to the six countries of the GCC amounted to $1.21 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.3%; exports to the five Central Asian countries amounted to $0.68 billion, maintaining a high-speed growth rate of 46.1%; exports to Africa amounted to $1.17 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%; and exports to Latin America amounted to $1.39 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%.

The export performance of major provinces and cities is unbalanced, with Zhejiang and Guangdong maintaining positive growth. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, and Shanghai rank in the top five provinces and cities for home textile exports. Except for the expansion of the decline in Shandong, other provinces and cities maintain positive growth or a narrowing decline. From January to October, Zhejiang's exports reached $8.43 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%; Jiangsu's exports reached $5.94 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4.7%; Shandong's exports reached $3.63 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8.9%; Guangdong's exports reached $2.36 billion, an increase of 19.7%; and Shanghai's exports reached $1.66 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 13%. In other regions, Xinjiang and Heilongjiang rely on border trade to maintain high-speed export growth, with growth rates of 84.2% and 95.6%, respectively.

In both the United States and Europe, home textile imports have seen a decline. From January to September 2023, the United States imported home textile products worth $12.32 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 21.4%, with imports from China dropping by 26.3%, accounting for 42.4% of the total, a decrease of 2.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. During the same period, imports from India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Vietnam also saw declines, with decreases of 17.7%, 20.7%, 21.8%, and 27%, respectively, with declines narrowing. Among the major import sources, only imports from Mexico increased by 14.4%.

During January to September, the European Union imported home textile products worth $7.34 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 17.7%, with imports from China dropping by 22.7% and accounting for 35%, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the EU's imports from Pakistan, Turkey, and India decreased by 13.8%, 12.2%, and 24.8%, respectively, while imports from the United Kingdom increased by 7.3%. From January to September, Japan imported home textile products worth $2.7 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11.2%, with imports from China dropping by 12.2% and accounting for 74%, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. During the same period, Japan's imports from Vietnam, India, Thailand, and Indonesia decreased by 7.1%, 24.3%, 3.4%, and 5.2%, respectively.

In summary, after undergoing fluctuations, the international home textile market is gradually returning to normal. Demand in traditional international markets such as the United States and Europe is recovering rapidly, plus the basic consumption of inventory due to the "Black Friday" and other shopping seasons, has driven rapid recovery of China's home textile exports to the United States and Europe since August. However, demand in emerging markets is showing a relatively slowed-down trend, noting that exports to those markets will gradually recover to normal levels. In the future, China's home textile export enterprises should strive to walk on two legs, actively explore new markets while stabilizing their traditional market growth share, avoid the risk of over-reliance on a single market, and achieve a diversified layout in the international market.