Major EU-27 textile and apparel import partners in Jun perform better than in May

The latest data showed that EU-27 textile and apparel imports reached 888kt in May, up 41.5% year-on-year but down 5.9% month-on-month respectively. The imports dropped by 5.2% compared with that in same period of 2019, indicating that although the import demand was still recovering, the recovery was insufficient and the imports have not yet reached the level of the same period in 2019. In Jan-May, the cumulative US textile and apparel imports value was 4.696 million tons, up 13.4% year-on-year, but it moved down by 2.6% compared with that in same period of 2019, indicating that the imports have not recovered to pre-Covid level though the imports were recovering in the first five months of this year.

Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan remained by far the EU-27's major textile and apparel suppliers in Jun. The share of Turkey and Vietnam rose but that of Indonesia inched down in value and volume terms. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Pakistan all decreased their shares of EU-27 textile and apparel imports month-on-month in Jun, marking the second consecutive fall in the month-on-month reading. However, both Turkey and Vietnam increased their shares of EU-27 textile and apparel imports month-on-month in Jun despite a month-on-month fall in last month. And the Vietnam grew faster month-on-month. EU-27 textile and apparel imports from China continued to rise month-on-month. Compared with that in same period of 2019, the share of the imports rose except for Indonesia, and the imports from Turkey and Vietnam saw large growth. In H1 2021, only EU-27 textile and apparel imports from Bangladesh and Indonesia saw falls and others all showed growth.

It could be seen that the share of major EU-27 textile and apparel imports partners accounted for over 70% in Jan-May, and that of China, Turkey, India, Pakistan and Vietnam rose somewhat but that of Bangladesh and Indonesia declined somewhat. Major EU-27 textile and apparel import partners’month-on-month performance continued to be weak, but was still tolerable compared with the same period in previous year.

In conclusion, the shares of major textile and apparel import partners of EU-27 increased and decreased in June and the overall performance is expected to be slightly better than that in May (as the total imports in June have not been released), and may see a rise compared with the same period in 2019. However, in July, the pandemic in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Turkey has become an important factor affecting import and export, and the rise of sea freight, shortage of shipping containers and port congestion may become an important factor affecting EU textile and apparel import in July. It is expected that EU textile and apparel import will be weak in July.