The first nine months of 2022 have seen growth in all major textile economies of the world. There are fears of slowdown in the last quarter due to persistent global recession. Growth in the first three quarters of 2022 was unusual.
We have seen that clothing exports registered robust growth in China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Italy, Turkey, Germany, and Pakistan. In fact, even the apparel exports from economically devastated Sri Lanka also posted healthy growth while its non-textile exports suffered. The textile sector growth was subdued but overall textile and clothing growth remained positive in all these major exporters in the world. The decline in export of cotton yarn was compensated by an increase in yarns made from synthetic fibers.
The 2022 was unusual for the textile sector because the world was moving towards recession and the energy hungry Europe impacted by the Ukraine war took the gas prices to unprecedented high levels. Normally at the first sign of recession the first cut that the consumer makes is on purchase of new garments and home textiles.
The logic behind this cut is that the consumers could use the dresses purchased a year back for some more time. The ladies that buy dozens of dresses a year reduce their purchases by half or one third. In 2022 the orders remained robust. Now the winter is approaching and gas prices for domestic and commercial consumers have reached the roof.
Heating residences in the winter would be an uphill task for normal households. This time around they would try to protect themselves from the cold by using warm clothing. Warm clothes would be a cheaper option than using gas at unaffordable rates. So, there is a chance that the winter orders would not decline as much as the clothing exporters are expecting.
The home textile sector, however, is likely to suffer as consumers would go on using older bed sheets and towels. We have seen in Pakistan that the textile and clothing exports have shown growth in the first nine months of 2022 but non-textile exports have either stagnated or declined. Pakistani exporters are also complaining of thinning apparel orders, but most factories are still operating at almost full capacities. The exporters must now exploit the new clothing markets to keep posting growth. The competing economies are already hunting orders from Asian and African countries.
