Recently, a CCTV video has been widely circulated in the textile circle. It mentioned that due to the surge in raw materials, the sock market in Yiwu in March this year was “not prosperous during the peak season.”
March is also the traditional peak season for the fabric market. As the largest textile production cluster in China, what has been the overall situation of the Shengze market since March? How much is it affected by the raw materials? To this end, the editor went into the market and asked several cloth bosses these questions.
Mr. Wang, lining manufacturer
Mr. Wang told the editor that after entering the traditional peak season in March, the number of orders has indeed rebounded to a certain extent than before. During the sales process, the most popular products in the market are still conventional varieties such as low-density polyester taffeta and pongee. When asked about the price increase of raw materials, Mr. Wang told the editor that the previous price increase of raw materials still had a certain impact on them. After the price increase of raw materials, old customers are fine. When taking orders from new customers, prices often fail to be negotiated. At present, they basically take orders from old customers, and there are very few orders from new customers.
Pants material manufacturer Mr. Wen
The main raw materials used by Mr. Wen to produce trousers are nylon and polyester, and the rise in raw materials has a great impact on them. He told the editor that after entering March, the market conditions in the entire market have become somewhat weaker than before, and are even worse than the same period last year. Due to cost pressure, their fabric prices have increased to a certain extent compared with before. Some of his customers cannot accept such price increases, so his business has been affected to a certain extent. Mr. Wen said, “Raw materials have risen too fast. Although they have begun to fall now, a week’s decline now can equal the one-day rise at that time.”
SPH fabric manufacturer Mr. Zhang
Mr. Zhang said that because the varieties they make are on the high-end side, rising raw material prices have little impact on them. Their business was very good in March. Although the price of fabrics has increased by about 5 cents/meter due to cost pressure since March, orders are still full. The price of raw materials has fallen during the recent period, but their fabric prices have not changed.
At present, more than 500 machines in their factory are fully used, and they can only basically meet the needs of the orders received. At the same time, they export a certain amount of bubble cloth to Southeast Asia every week, and the profits are pretty good.
Jacquard fabric manufacturer Mr. Zhu
The main raw material of the jacquard fabric produced by Mr. Zhu’s factory is polyester filament. In the past month, the average price of their fabric has increased by about 10%. When the price of raw materials fell recently, the price of the fabric was basically stable. Mr. Zhu said that since the beginning of this year, their business has been better than the same period last year, and the increase in raw material prices has not had a big impact on them. In terms of exports, their company’s trade volume exported to the Middle East is similar to previous years. At present, the operating rate of looms in their factory is around 80%, which is mainly affected by recruitment factors. Because the production of jacquard fabrics requires relatively high workers, they have not yet recruited all the workers. It can be seen that the four cloth bosses interviewed gave different answers to the question of rising raw materials. They represent the situation of a type of cloth boss in the market.
For cloth owners who produce different products, the impact of rising raw material prices is not the same. For manufacturers of products with high profits and large market demand, high raw material prices have little impact on them due to low substitutability. The hot market in March came as expected. For manufacturers of relatively low-end, low-profit products, the impact of rising raw material prices will be greater. However, the production of higher-end products requires higher quality of workers, and the probability of labor shortages will increase.
Cloth bosses, do you think the market is “booming” in March this year?
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