An Inventory Of The Steady Economic Operation Of Filament Weaving Industry In 2024

2024 is a key year to achieve the goals and tasks of the 14th Five Year Plan. In the face of the complex and severe situation of increasing external pressure and internal difficulties, China's filament weaving industry adheres to the principle of "seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing first and then breaking down", continues to deepen transformation and upgrading, and the overall operation of the industry is stable and progressing while maintaining stability. The export scale has reached a new record, Demonstrated strong resilience and sustainable development capability. In 2025, the development of the industry will still face many risks and challenges, as well as unlimited opportunities and hopes.

01 The industry operates steadily in general, and business pressure continues

According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2024, the operating revenue of the textile industry above designated size in China will increase by 4% year on year, the total profit will increase by 7.5% year on year, and the profit margin will be 3.9%. By industry, in 2024, the operating revenue of China's chemical fiber weaving, printing and dyeing finishing industry (above designated size) will grow by 9.9% year on year, the total profit will grow by 22.6% year on year, and the profit margin will be 3.2%. Among them, the operating revenue of the chemical fiber weaving industry (above designated size) increased by 8.9% year on year, the total profit increased by 7.5% year on year, and the profit margin was 2.9%; The operating revenue of chemical fiber fabric dyeing and finishing industry (above designated size) increased by 14.3% year on year, the total profit increased by 102.6% year on year, and the profit margin was 4.3%.

The operating cost of the chemical fiber weaving industry (above designated size) increased by 9.1% year on year, and the total of three fees increased by 11.5% year on year. According to the questionnaire on the production and operation of the filament weaving industry in 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the "questionnaire"), more than half of the enterprises reported that the annual operating costs had increased to varying degrees, mainly focusing on labor costs and the purchase and storage of raw materials. (Figures 1 and 2)

Figure 1 Annual operating cost of filament weaving enterprises in 2024 compared with that in 2023 (%)

Source: China Filament Weaving Association

Figure 2 The main reasons for the increase of operating costs of filament weaving enterprises in 2024

Source: China Filament Weaving Association

In terms of enterprise operation efficiency, according to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, the turnover rate of enterprise finished products is 7.6 times/year, the turnover rate of bills receivable and accounts receivable is 6 times/year, and the turnover rate of total assets is 0.9 times/year, slowing down by 5.8%, 4.3% and 2.4% year on year respectively. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the loss area of the chemical fiber weaving industry (above designated size) continued to narrow, with the loss area of the industry shrinking from 31% in the first quarter to 16% in the whole year, 15 percentage points down, but the loss amount of loss making enterprises increased.

　　 02 Continuous optimization of industrial structure and steady growth of output

According to the statistics of China Filament Weaving Association, by the end of 2024, the number of looms in China's filament weaving industry has reached 941000, up 1.6% year on year, including 858000 water jet looms, up 0.4% year on year.

According to the statistics of the Association, the total output of chemical filament fabrics in China will reach 69.2 billion meters in 2024, up 9.7% year on year. On the one hand, with the continuous release of new capacity, the output of emerging clusters has increased significantly. On the other hand, in the past year, the whole industry has carried out large-scale equipment renewal, with the loom renewal rate reaching 12%, the production efficiency has significantly improved, and the industry output growth rate has significantly exceeded the capacity growth rate.

03 The center of gravity of raw material price moves downward

In the first half of 2024, the price of Brent crude oil is higher than that of the same period last year, and fluctuates between 80 and 90 dollars as a whole. In the third quarter, the price of Brent crude oil declined significantly, falling to a year low of $72/barrel at the end of September. In the fourth quarter, the crude oil price adjusted at a low level, and the price difference remained at about $2.

In the first half of the year, the correlation between PTA futures, polyester DTY/FDY (150D) prices and Brent crude oil prices was slightly weak, market fluctuations were relatively stable, and prices were more affected by the supply and demand game; 3、 The price in the fourth quarter is strongly related to the crude oil price, which is affected by the weakening of cost support, PTA、 Polyester DTY/FDY (150D) prices fell in shock. Nylon FDY prices fluctuated at a high level in the first half of the year; In the second half of the year, due to the lack of support from the cost side, prices fell sharply. In this year, the price of raw materials fluctuated greatly, and the uncertainty risk of filament weaving enterprises increased when purchasing raw materials.

Figure 3 Price trend of China's chemical filament, cotton, PTA futures and Brent crude oil from January 2023 to December 2024

Source: China Filament Weaving Association

04 The domestic market recovered moderately

According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2024, the retail sales of clothing, shoes and hats, knitwear and textiles above the designated size will increase by 0.3% year on year; Online retail sales of clothing products increased by 1.5% year on year, and domestic consumption of textile and clothing in China achieved a moderate growth.

According to the questionnaire, 46% of filament weaving sample enterprises saw an increase in domestic sales orders in 2024 compared with 2023, and 13% saw an increase of more than 20%. In addition, 31% of enterprises said that their domestic sales orders for the whole year were basically the same as those in 2023. (Figure 4)

Figure 4 Domestic sales orders of filament weaving enterprises in 2024 compared with 2023 (%)

Source: China Filament Weaving Association

From the trading volume of China Textile City, the overall prosperity of the market in the first three quarters continued to rise. The market boom index fell back in the fourth quarter, and the price and volume of mass products and mass products fell back, but the outdoor brands showed explosive growth, especially the market of assault suit with multiple functions such as waterproof, antibacterial, intelligent temperature control, etc. It can be seen that the combination of functional innovation and upgrading of materials, processes, design and other functional clothing scenes has become a hot spot to ignite consumption. According to the questionnaire, composite functional fabrics, sunscreen fabrics, environmentally friendly recycled fabrics, super simulated fabrics, ultra-thin fabrics, blended woven fabrics, elastic fabrics, etc. are also popular to varying degrees throughout the year.

05 Steady progress in foreign trade operation

　　 The export volume has improved and the quality is excellent

According to the statistics of China Customs, China's textile and clothing exports will reach 301.1 billion US dollars in 2024, up 2.8% year on year. Among them, clothing exports reached US $159.14 billion, up 0.3% year on year; The textile export volume reached US $141.96 billion, up 5.7% year on year.

Against this background, in 2024, China's cumulative export of chemical filament fabrics will reach 20.65 billion US dollars, up 3.9% year on year; The cumulative export volume was 24.43 billion meters, up 8.2% year on year; The export unit price was 0.9 US dollars/meter, down 4% year on year. From the perspective of main export products, in 2024, the cumulative export value of polyester filament fabrics will be 17.22 billion US dollars, up 2.5% year on year; The total export volume was 21.27 billion meters, up 6.9% year on year. The cumulative export value of nylon filament fabrics was 1.17 billion US dollars, up 28.7% year on year; The cumulative export volume was 750 million meters, up 29.4% year on year.

In terms of export market structure, China's exports to major markets grew significantly. The cumulative export amount of the top ten countries and regions in terms of export volume increased by 52.2% year on year, accounting for 49.2% of China's total export of filament fabrics. The status of the countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" in China's export market has improved year by year. In 2024, China's total export of filament fabrics to the countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" was 17.35 billion US dollars, an increase of 42.3% year on year, accounting for 84% of China's total export of filament fabrics, 22.7 percentage points higher than that in 2023. In terms of the international market, China is still the largest importer of filament fabrics in the EU, accounting for 23.7% of its market share; It is the second largest importer of filament fabrics in the United States, accounting for 15.1% of its market share, 1.5 percentage points higher than that in 2023.

　　 The export performance of terminal manufactured goods is generally stable

According to Chinese customs data, in 2024, the export volume of filament woven clothing will decline by 5.7% year on year, and the export volume of filament woven household and industrial textiles will increase by 6.3% and 3.4% year on year respectively. From the perspective of proportion, filament woven clothing accounted for 60.3% of the total export of woven clothing, and filament woven household and industrial finished products accounted for 70.1% and 36.5% of the total export of household and industrial finished products respectively.

　　 Continuous decline in import volume

According to Chinese customs data, in 2024, China's cumulative imports of chemical filament fabrics will reach 810 million US dollars, down 2.4% year on year; The cumulative import volume was 350 million meters, down 6.3% year on year; The average import price was 2.4 US dollars/meter, up 4.1% year on year. ‌

06 Outlook

The evolution of the world's changes in the past century has accelerated, the global economy is in a slow recovery process, unilateralism and protectionism are intensifying, tariff barriers are increasing, geopolitical tensions are still many, the external environment is becoming more complex and severe, affecting global market expectations, and the foreign trade market is facing multiple pressures. From the perspective of the domestic demand market, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed to implement a "more active" fiscal policy and a "moderately loose" monetary policy, improve residents' income expectations, vigorously boost consumption, and expand domestic demand in an all-round way. With the emergence of the policy prying effect, it will effectively stimulate the potential of China's super large market and is expected to drive the filament weaving industry to run well.

Filament weaving enterprises should make efforts to grasp the development opportunities according to the national policy guidance and their own conditions, continue to strengthen technological innovation and digital transformation, promote product innovation and high-end development, strengthen green manufacturing and sustainable development, avoid "inner roll" competition, cultivate and develop new quality productivity in the first place, and firmly promote the construction of a modern industrial system.

(Source: filament weaving)