In 2019, China’s technical textile industry adhered to innovation-oriented development, and actively promoted the transformation and upgrading and structural reforms. Through the full exploration of the market at home and aboard, it strove to overcome the downward pressure on the economy, and maintained a stable progression throughout the year. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the growth rate of the industrial added value of enterprises above designated size in 2019 reaches 6.9%, which is higher than the average value of the manufacturing industry and is at the leading level in the textile industry.

In terms of production, the demand for nonwovens restrained a strong trend worldwide in 2019. The output of China’s nonwovens enterprises above designated size reached 5.03 million tons in the year, up 9.9% year-on-year. However, the sluggish automotive industry also affected related supporting industries. The output of tire cord fabrics in 2019 was 623,000 tons, seeing a year-on-year decrease of 7.4%.

For economic benefits, in 2019, the main business income of enterprises above designated size in the technical textile industry achieved CNY 235.93 billion, increased by 1.2% year-on-year; the total profit was CNY 11.88 billion, down 4.3% year-on-year; the average profit rate of the enterprise was 5.9%, 0.3 percentage point lower than the same period of 2018. In 2019, as a result of the low prices of major raw materials and the implementation of the national fee reduction and tax break policies, both the gross profit margin and operating profit margin of the technical textile industry increased by 0.5 percentage points. But changes in non-operating income and expenses caused the reduction of industry profit levels. And the business differentiation among enterprises continued to expand. The losses of enterprises above designated size reached 12%, and the losses of loss-making enterprises surged by 29.4% year-on-year.

By sectors, the prime operating revenue of nonwovens enterprises above designated size in 2019 increased by 2.9%, and the gross profit margin increased by 0.3 percentage points, but the total profit and profit margin decreased by 3.8% and 0.4 percentage points respectively. The profitability of the tent and canvas industries have improved. Although their growth rate of main business revenue and total profit declined by 2.9% and 0.4%, respectively, their gross profit margin and profit margin increased by 1.5 and 0.3 percentage points. Affected by the factors such as market demand, the rope, the cable, hawser industry and the textile belt and tire cord fabrics industry showed a downtrend in their growth rate of main business revenue, decreased by 2.3% and 3.6% respectively, and the growth rate of total profit down by 18.2% and 9.7% respectively; the main business income of other technical textiles (including filtration, geotechnical, safety protection, transportation and composite materials, etc.) increased by 3.7%, and their total profit decreased by 1.7%. But the gross profit margin and profit margin reached 16.1% and 7.2% respectively, leading the technical textile industry.

In terms of foreign trade, the value of China’s technical textile exports in 2019 reached US$ 27.34 billion, up 2.1% year-on-year; and the imports were US$ 6.73 billion, down 5.7% year-on-year. From the perspective of the main product markets, the top three export products were technical coated fabrics, nonwovens, and felt/tents, amounting for more than 30% of the total exports. Among them, the export volume of nonwovens reached 1.05 million tons, up 9.1% year-on-year, while the export volume of coated technical fabrics and felt/tents decreased by 3.2% and 1.2% respectively. The export of disposable sanitary products remained positive, with its export value and volume increasing by 16% and 18.8%, respectively, compared with the same period of 2018. From the perspective of product export prices, the export unit price of 4 categories out of the top ten products has increased slightly. Among them, the increase in rope & belt was 5.2%, and the export prices of the remaining products showed a slight decline. As a whole, the quantity still leveraged the main factor driving the growth of China’s technical textile exports.

From the perspective of the main export markets, the United States remained China’s largest export destination, with US$ 3.7 billion exports. Affected by trade frictions, the export value fell by 9.1% compared with the same period in 2018. And Vietnam surpassed Japan to become the second-largest export destination, the exports to Vietnam increased by 10.1% year-on-year, while China’s exports to Japan and South Korea were basically unchanged with 2018. The exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” Initiative were becoming an important driving force for the export growth of the technical textile industry. In 2019, the exports of China’s technical textile to the countries along the “Belt and Road” Initiative reached US$ 10.85 billion, seeing a year-on-year increase of 7.1%, of which the export volume and export volume of nonwovens increased by 16.7% and 18.9%, respectively.

2020 is the year to adopt a well-rounded approach to create a society of moderate prosperity. But the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of the year threatens an economic crisis as well as a health crisis. True, the development environment faced by China’s technical textile industry maybe even more complex than before. But opportunities and challenges, hope and difficulty coexist at the same time. The demand for masks, medical protective clothing, disinfectant wipes brought about by the pandemic have grown rapidly. And the Chinese authority has introduced a series of supportive policies to help enterprises overcome the difficulties. All these positive factors are helpful to alleviate the industry’s development pressure. It is expected that the production and sales of China's technical textile industry will decline to a certain extent in the first half of 2020, but the situation will improve in the second half of the year, and production, sales, and exports will maintain a slight increase throughout the year.

Source: CHINA TEXTILE LEADER Express