China trade: decade-low import of cotton yarn reflects ‘global slowdown’ in clothing demand
- US-led ban on Xinjiang cotton, zero-Covid restrictions and supply-chain delays also helped drive down China’s cotton-yarn imports during the year’s first three quarters
- Shortfall in China’s yarn imports this year is equal to about 3.5 million bales of cotton lint, and it actually exported yarn to India – an ‘unheard of’ development
Cotton-yarn imports into China plunged this year to their lowest level in a decade, sending exporting countries such as India on a hunt for alternative destinations.
China is the world’s largest importer of cotton yarn from the likes of India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, as its own spinning mills do not produce enough to feed its apparel and textile industry.
However, the value of China’s cotton-yarn imports declined by 33.2 per cent in the first nine months of this year to US$2.8 billion, from US$4.3 billion in the same period last year, according to its customs data.
And the loss of such a large volume of orders from China reflects a “global slowdown in apparel demand”, according to Manish Daga, managing director at cotton consultancy CottonGuru in India.
“The apparel and garments market is not doing well,” Daga said. “That’s why yarn imports by China have reduced significantly.”
