Since 2023, the domestic and international situation faced by China's printing and dyeing industry has become more complex and severe. Global geopolitical risks are increasing, and the efficiency of industrial and supply chain connections is affected; Developed economies such as the United States and Europe have adopted contractionary monetary policies, increasing downward pressure on the world economy and leading to an overall contraction in external demand; The insufficient total domestic demand remains the main contradiction in the current economic operation, and consumer confidence among residents still needs to be boosted. In the first three quarters, the production situation of the printing and dyeing industry remained basically stable, and the production of printing and dyeing fabrics achieved a slight increase, but the growth rate has declined compared to the first half of the year; The export of major printing and dyeing products shows a trend of increasing quantity and decreasing price, with the average unit price of exports further deepening, and the diversification of the export market continues to advance; The main economic indicators continue to recover and show a positive trend, with the decline rate continuing to narrow, and the pressure on enterprise operations has eased to some extent.
Part 01: The production situation has weakened slightly, and the growth rate of production has slightly declined
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to September 2023, the production of printed and dyed fabrics by enterprises above designated size in the printing and dyeing industry reached 40.975 billion meters, a year-on-year increase of 0.84%, a decrease of 0.82 percentage points from the first half of the year. From the perspective of monthly production, the production of printed and dyed fabrics remained below 5 billion meters from July to September. Due to the weakening of textile and clothing consumption, the overall production situation in the printing and dyeing industry was weak in the third quarter. From January to September, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and needle textile products from units above designated size in China increased by 10.6% year-on-year, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from the first half of the year; In the online retail sales of physical goods, clothing products increased by 9.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate has been declining for four consecutive months. Insufficient terminal demand and reduced production orders have led to a low level of capacity utilization in the printing and dyeing industry, and the industry's production situation remains under pressure.
Part. 02: The operational quality needs to be improved, and the operational efficiency continues to be restored
Due to factors such as insufficient demand and complex domestic and international situations, the operational quality of the printing and dyeing industry has declined, and the recovery of operational efficiency has been slow. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to September, the proportion of three expenses for printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size was 6.93%, a year-on-year increase of 0.26 percentage points. Among them, financial expenses increased significantly, a year-on-year increase of 17.47%; The turnover rate of finished products was 13.90 times per year, a year-on-year decrease of 10.70%, and the decrease was 1.70 percentage points larger than the first half of the year; The accounts receivable turnover rate is 8.09 times per year, a year-on-year decrease of 0.29%, which is 0.68 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year; The total asset turnover rate is 0.95 times per year, a year-on-year decrease of 2.09%, which is 0.86 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year.
From January to September, the operating revenue of printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size was 216.028 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.90%, which was 2.38 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year; Realized a total profit of 7.434 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.23%, which is 12.11 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year; The cost and expense profit margin is 3.66%, an increase of 0.61 percentage points compared to the first half of the year; The sales profit margin is 3.44%, an increase of 0.55 percentage points from the first half of the year. The number of loss making households in 1771 printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size is 628, with a loss area of 35.46%, which is 3.16 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year; The total loss of loss making enterprises was 2.804 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.63%, which is 14.60 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year.
In the third quarter, with the continuous and effective implementation of a series of stable growth and consumption promoting policies by the country, the operating efficiency of the printing and dyeing industry maintained a recovery trend. Although the operating income and total profit of printing and dyeing enterprises above a certain scale still showed negative growth, the decline gradually narrowed, and the industry's sales profit margin gradually increased. The operating efficiency of enterprises continued to improve.
Part 03 Stable and Under Pressure Export, Diversified Export Market
In the third quarter, due to factors such as shrinking overseas demand and the complex and ever-changing international trade environment, the direct export pressure of China's main printing and dyeing products has increased, competition in the export market has intensified, and the average export unit price has further declined. According to Chinese customs data, from January to September, the export volume of eight major categories of printing and dyeing products was 23.615 billion meters, a year-on-year increase of 4.82%, a decrease of 0.55 percentage points from the first half of the year; The export amount was 22.725 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 4.92%, with a decrease of 0.90 percentage points compared to the first half of the year; The average export unit price is 0.96 US dollars per meter, a year-on-year decrease of 9.29%, and the decrease is 0.42 percentage points larger than the first half of the year.
China's indirect exports of printing and dyeing products have also shown varying degrees of decline. Specifically, the exports of the clothing industry continue to decline. From January to September, China's cumulative exports of clothing and clothing accessories reached 121.23 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 8.8%, and the decline was 2.9 percentage points larger than the first half of the year; The home textile industry is showing a recovery trend. From January to September, China's export value of household textiles reached 34.676 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 3.22%, which is 2.40 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year.
From the perspective of major export markets, from January to September, China's eight major categories of printing and dyeing products exported 5.261 billion meters to ASEAN, a year-on-year increase of 0.97%, and 5.655 billion meters to RCEP trading partner countries, a year-on-year increase of 0.35%. The growth rates were 3.85 and 4.47 percentage points lower than the total export growth rates, respectively, mainly affected by the decline in exports to major countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and South Korea.
From the perspective of major export countries, the diversified characteristics of China's printing and dyeing industry export market are more obvious. Vietnam and Bangladesh, as the two major clothing exporting countries second only to China, have a high demand for printed and dyed fabrics in China. Since the beginning of this year, due to the contraction of demand in the European and American markets, the number of printed and dyed fabrics imported from China by Vietnam and Bangladesh has decreased. In the first three quarters, the export quantity of eight categories of printed and dyed products from China to Vietnam and Bangladesh decreased by 4.32% and 12.36% year-on-year, respectively. However, during the same period, exports to Indonesia, Brazil, India, and Russia achieved rapid growth, with a growth rate significantly higher than the average export growth rate. This has played a certain supporting role in maintaining the stable export scale of China's printing and dyeing industry.
In the first three quarters of 2023, China's printing and dyeing industry faced risks and challenges from abroad, as well as downward pressure caused by the interweaving of multiple domestic factors. The overall economic operation continued to recover and show strong development resilience. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the printing and dyeing industry still faces many unstable and uncertain factors. Internationally, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestine Israel conflict are still continuing, and the global geopolitical risk is still high, which will continue to affect the stability of the international trade environment and the security of the industrial chain supply chain; Under the background of interest rate hikes, inflation pressure in major developed economies has eased, but the risk of recession has increased. The cumulative effect of tightening monetary policy will continue to emerge, and international market demand is still difficult to effectively release; The trend of anti globalization is constantly emerging, and trade protectionism is on the rise. The "nearshore" and "friendly shore" trade policies are putting pressure on China's printing and dyeing industry exports.
On the domestic side, the problems of insufficient macro aggregate demand and lack of confidence in micro entities have not been fundamentally solved, and the driving role of consumption in the recovery of industry economy still needs to be strengthened. But at the same time, we should also see that positive factors are constantly accumulating, and China's national economy continues to rebound and improve. Relevant departments of the country have introduced multiple policy measures to promote the development of the private economy and expand household consumption. This will provide long-term support for improving industry expectations, boosting consumer confidence, and enhancing industry recovery momentum. China's super large market advantage will also continue to be demonstrated, and the industry will further consolidate the foundation of economic recovery.
