“Buyers are concerned with the on-going China-US trade war and it has resultedin fewer and smaller orders,” said a report by the Ministry of Investment andPlanning.
Vietnamese textile companies were being hit hard as the trade war dragged on,as indicated in a performance review of the Vietnam National Textile andGarment Group (VINATEXT), one of the largest in Vietnam.
Export of raw materials to China, traditionally a major market for Vietnameseproducts that accounts up to 60 percent of the country’s total export volume,plummeted as China cut back on imports. Among the most affected was yarn exportwith the price continuing to fall as fears of further tariffs being slapped onan additional 250 billion USD worth of Chinese goods linger.
“As the global yarn industry faces worsening prospects due to the on-goingtrade war, competition among rival countries such as India, Indonesia,Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam has intensified,” said the review.
In stark contrast to last year when there were more than enough orders to workon until the end of the year by September, companies are scrambling to secureorders to maintain production.
A vast majority of orders, if they were signed at all, were of small volume andshort-term as customers were constantly on the look-out for new developments ofthe trade war. In addition, more and more Chinese orders have been shipped tocountries with better tax incentives such as Cambodia and Bangladesh.
The possibility of Vietnam’s textile industry hitting its target of 40 billionUSD in exports this year is getting slimmer, said VINATEXT Vice PresidentTruong Van Cam.
Along with the trade war’s adverse effects, expectations for trade deals suchas the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) were setunrealistically high, Cam said, adding such deals will take a while to make areal impact.
According to figures released by the General Department of Customs, textileexports during the first three quarters of 2019 reached 29.2 billion USD, a 9.1percent year-on-year increase./.