From January to February, the economic operation of China's printing and dyeing industry maintained recovery. The output of printed and dyed fabrics grew continually; the exports of major printed and dyed products saw growth in both volume and price, and the average unit price of exports also increased; the operation quality and economic benefits witnessed a progressive improvement; the level of corporate profitability increased significantly. However, sporadic pandemics and rising raw material prices are still the real pressures facing the industry.

1. Production

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first two months of 2022, the output of printed and dyed fabrics of enterprises above designated size in the printing and dyeing industry reached 7.04 billion meters, up by 5.94% year-on-year. Despite facing a severe and complicated situation, the production of China's printing and dyeing industry still maintained a good development, reaching a new high for the same period in the past five years.

2. Exports

According to the statistics released by China General Customs, from January to February, the export volume of eight major categories of printed and dyed products totaled 4.99 billion meters, up by 6.87% year-on-year. While the export value was US$ 5.37 billion, seeing a year-on-year rise of 19.26%. And the average export unit price was US$ 1.08/meter, growing by 11.59% year-on-year. Much as the existing international pandemic and rising freight prices, the demand for China's printed and dyed products in the international market is still growing. In the first two months, the export unit price of eight categories of printed and dyed products except for polyester staple fabrics all saw a drastic increase, which was driven by the increase in raw material prices and freight prices as well as the continued recovery of international market demand.

3. Operation Quality

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to February, the share of three overheads in turnover of printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size was 7.90%, 0.70 percentage points lower than the same period of 2021. The turnover rate of finished products was 15.40 times/year, up 3.84% year-on-year. The turnover of account receivable was 7.96 times/year, seeing year-on-year rises of 7.86%; the total asset turnover was 0.86 times/year, up 10.60% year-on-year. But the turnover rate of finished products was still low. The data shows that from January to February, the inventory of printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size increased by 14.59% year-on-year.

4. Economic Benefits

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to February, the main business income of the printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size reached CNY 39.55 billion, up 18.89% year-on-year. Their total profits reached CNY 755 million, surged by 51.48% year-on-year. The ratio of profits to cost was 1.99%, 0.44 percentage points higher than the same period in 2021. 39.26% of printing and dyeing enterprises operated in deficit, declined 0.13 percentage points year-on-year; the loss value of these enterprises totaled CNY 905 million, up by 10.28% year-on-year. The completed export delivery value reached CNY 6.06 billion, up by 19.39% year-on-year. In the first two months, the prices of the main raw materials in the printing and dyeing industry remained high and were prone to fluctuation. However, compared with the same period of the previous year, the profitability of the printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size increased significantly. The year-on-year growth rate of their main business income and total profits were 5.40 percentage points and 53.23 percentage points higher than that of the textile industry enterprises above designated size.

On the whole, since the beginning of 2022, the economic recovery of China's printing and dyeing industry saw a development trend. But uncertain and unstable factors at home and abroad have increased. The production and consumption of the printing and dyeing industry are plagued by sporadic pandemics in Jilin, Shanghai. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has led to further increases in the prices of oil, natural gas and other commodities, heaping pressure on the producers. In addition, the tightening economic policies in developed economies have a depressing effect on international market demand. In a conclusion, China's printing and dyeing industry faces ever more uncertainty in the economic operation. And the future development needs to be further observed.

Source: CHINA TEXTILE LEADER Express