In Li, a textile company in Jiapu Town, workers are operating air-jet looms in a clean and orderly workshop.
“I didn’t buy any spring clothes this year.”
“Me too Hey, it saves money.”
Spring is the season for showing off beauty, and it is also the harvest season for clothing and other related companies. But this spring, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the above chat scene has become a norm among many female consumers.
The consumer side is so “cold”, and the related textile and apparel industry on the supply side is naturally also cold – fewer orders, orders suspended, orders canceled… and such messages are all disappointing. People are concerned about one thing: As a traditional dominant industry in Zhejiang, what is the survival status of the textile industry, a large industrial chain that connects tens of thousands of enterprises and a large number of consumer groups? What are the bosses of Zhejiang textile companies busy with? With these questions, reporters recently visited Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Hangzhou and other places where the textile industry is concentrated in the province to conduct on-the-spot research.
Sudden changes
The industry encounters a “bad spring”
AviewoftheworkshopofMa’anStreetprintinganddyeingenterpriseprovidedbyMa’anStreet,KeqiaoDistrict
Thisspring,Zhejiang’s textile industry can be said to be “falling into a cold winter.” , both the upstream and downstream industrial chains will suffer losses.
Zhejiang has a complete textile industry chain. In the upstream chemical fiber field, Tongxiang, Shaoxing and Xiaoshan are well-known chemical fiber new material production bases in the country. The polyester fiber output exceeds 16 million tons, accounting for one-half of the national total; in the midstream printing and dyeing field, the Lanyin Fashion Town in Keqiao, Shaoxing , has gathered 108 printing and dyeing enterprises, and the printing and dyeing volume is close to one-third of the country; in the downstream clothing and apparel field, the province has formed 18 clothing industry clusters.
“Even with a huge downstream customer base, our recent sales have experienced a sharp decline.” In Jiapu Town, Changxing County, where home textile companies gather, Zhejiang Keyi Textile Co., Ltd. ( (hereinafter referred to as “Keyi Textile”) is one of the few local upstream chemical fiber companies, and about 80% of local textile companies are downstream of it. Shen Jianming, the company’s deputy general manager, told reporters that most of the customers are for foreign trade orders, using their raw silk to produce gray fabrics and then printing and dyeing them for export overseas. Since late March, new orders from downstream companies have dropped significantly, and the company’s inventory was once as high as 500 to 600 tons, more than twice the usual level.
Only a few kilometers away from “Keyi Textile”, the orders of the downstream enterprise “Chengxin Textile” have been reduced by nearly half. “Our products are directly or indirectly exported overseas, and fluctuations in the international market have a great impact on us.” Tong Yihong, the company’s deputy general manager, said that since April, foreign merchants have been calling to cancel or postpone orders. Affected by this, the inventory of gray cloth in their warehouse has reached more than 6 million meters, worth more than 10 million yuan.
“Now, what worries me most is not the cancellation of orders, but that foreign distributors and partners will fall in this epidemic.” Talking about the risks in overseas markets According to Zhang Jian, deputy general manager of “Xinchang Textile”, during this period, foreign customers have continued to request delayed payments, with the amount exceeding 2 million yuan, and there are still more than 6 million yuan of goods “floating at sea” that may also face ” “Difficulty in getting money back” problem. Not only that, Zhang Jian said that the company currently only has orders of five to six million US dollars on hand, which is only enough to maintain the company’s production for more than 20 days, and there have been almost no new overseas orders since April.
Not only in Changxing, Shaoxing Longju Textile Co., Ltd. is also complaining due to reduced orders. “This spring we have only shipped two containers to the U.S. market, and European orders have been completely wiped out. So far, not a single container has been shipped.” Song Zhanfeng, the company’s general manager, told reporters that at present, it can only last until August this year at most. month. Zhao Haifeng, chairman of Zhejiang Weiyi Industrial Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company’s equipment utilization rate is now only 60-70%, and the processing unit price has been discounted by 20%, which is equivalent to only half of the actual utilization rate; while textile companies can only achieve 85% equipment utilization rate. It is profitable, and production is now started mainly to maintain the company’s operations.
Adaptation
Do your best to survive
InHuzhouLvmengTextileTechnologyCo.,Ltd.inJiapuTown,theproductionlineisstillrushingtoproduceordersonhand.
Facedwithanunprecedentedcrisis,manyZhejiangtextilecompanieshaveshownastrongdesiretosurvive,fullydemonstratingthevitalityandresilienceofZhejiang’s private economy.
Dynamic adjustment of production capacity has become the primary rule for enterprises to survive during the epidemic. Walking into Zhejiang Huagang Dyeing and Weaving Group Co., Ltd., the reporter found a scene of ice and fire: in the five workshops, all the workshops that made foreign trade orders were suspended, but the printing and dyeing workshop that made “milk silk” products was extremely busy. General manager Gu Hongyu told reporters that orders for this workshop have been scheduled to the end of the month, and there are still no orders.Conduct inspections. When Wal-Mart executives visited Belleheng in July last year, they happened to have been to Southeast Asia. The other party believed that even if tariffs were imposed, they would still be willing to purchase from China. Because here the industrial chain is complete, supply capacity is stable, product quality is reliable, and the competitive advantage is more obvious.
The extreme pressure brought about by this epidemic is like a mirror, clearly showing the strengths and weaknesses of Zhejiang’s textile industry – a complete industrial chain does not mean that the industrial chain is strong. Therefore, to survive the crisis, efforts must be made along the industrial chain. At this time, it is a good opportunity to make up for the shortcomings of the industrial chain and enhance the competitiveness of the industrial chain. Keqiao’s “Buyu Plan” has the meaning of strengthening and replenishing the chain. “There is printing and dyeing, and there is a light textile market, but the upstream chemical fiber and weaving are Keqiao’s shortcomings. When it comes to the introduction of the next projects, Keqiao will consciously ‘replenish the chain’, and at the same time strengthen the synergy with surrounding supporting industries, so as to cultivate Form a stronger industrial chain.” Wang Hao said.
There are more and more companies that want to make efforts to complete and strengthen the industrial chain. Tiansheng Holdings, a leading local chemical fiber company in Shaoxing, has recently acquired seven printing and dyeing companies in one fell swoop, extending from upstream chemical fiber to downstream printing and dyeing, further enhancing the degree of industrial chain aggregation. Wang Hao noticed that during this period, eight printing and dyeing companies have requested factory renovation and upgrade. “I remember that Shengxin Printing and Dyeing submitted the application on a Wednesday afternoon, and the multi-department review was completed on Friday afternoon. Within 48 hours, the company’s chairman Fu Jianlin called me more than 10 times.” Wang Hao said that Fu Jianlin had something to tell him. He was deeply impressed, “Now is the best time for factory renovation, I can’t wait for a moment.”
Today, Shaoxing Haitong Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. is bustling with activity. Six excavators are busy waving their giant arms on the construction site. The old factory building has disappeared. It is a renovation and upgrading project with an investment of 150 million yuan. It is being built against time. “Although the production capacity is basically the same as in the past, the added value of new high-count and high-density fabric projects can rise to 8 to 16 yuan per meter, which is much higher than the current level of 1 yuan per meter. A good horse with a good saddle cannot be replaced anymore. We are going the old way of living off the volume.” Li Chuanhai, president of the Zhejiang Printing and Dyeing Industry Association and chairman of Haitong Printing and Dyeing, is full of confidence.
Converse investment at this time is the best time to strengthen your own body and seek a better position in the industrial chain. Every time a crisis comes, a group of companies will rise, and of course a group of companies will fall. This is a normal “metabolism” process. For Zhejiang’s textile industry chain, it is its mission and responsibility to be sublimated in the baptism of crisis. Li Chuanhai believes that after the epidemic, everyone’s environmental awareness will be higher, and the threshold of the printing and dyeing industry will also be raised. The governance standards of Keqiao’s printing and dyeing industry are much higher than those in the country, and it will win more opportunities. From the perspective of the entire industrial chain, there is no place in the world with such complete facilities as Keqiao. “Next, Keqiao Printing and Dyeing should shift from providing printing and dyeing services for Zhejiang and China to providing printing and dyeing services for the global textile industry.” He said.
Reporter’s Notes
Traditional industries cannot be ignored
Recently, when Cao Dewang, Chairman of Fuyao Group, was asked, “The industries that are moving to Southeast Asia are low-end manufacturing industries, there is no need to retain these low-end companies and low-end industries.” He said that there must be a long-term and prosperous tradition. industries, otherwise the economy cannot achieve independence; manufacturing is the foundation of the national economy. Without basic traditional manufacturing industries, many so-called high-end industries cannot develop at all.
When the author was interviewing in Keqiao, a printing and dyeing company owner talked about the same topic. He mentioned sadly that many people believe that the printing and dyeing industry is highly polluting and should be eliminated or moved out. He had a vivid metaphor, like learning mathematics. Generally, you start with numbers, then addition and subtraction, and then learn various formulas. In college, you learn how formulas come from, and then go one step further and study formulas. Prerequisites and various conjectures are put forward. The links are intertwined, and if any link is missing, it will be difficult to move on to the next link.
This is like an industrial system, which cannot be separated from the foundation laid by basic industries. Without the support of basic industry, it will be difficult for industry to move into depth and high-end. And the more complete the industrial system is, the more each industry is inseparable from each other. The industry itself is not divided into high and low ends. Only through the coordinated development of various industries can a complete industrial system be formed.
Under the epidemic, the security of the industrial chain has aroused the vigilance of various countries. Although China has the most complete industrial system in the world, its industrial chain also has vulnerabilities. In this situation, how to treat traditional industries is worth pondering. Don’t label industries arbitrarily, let alone one size fits all. After all, even the traditional printing and dyeing industry can have high added value. The key lies in the company’s ability to improve valuable technical content. Of course, meeting environmental protection requirements is a bottom line that must be strictly adhered to. </p
