The opening four months of the year saw the total value of textile and garment exports fall by 6.6% on-year to US$10.64 billion as a result of the negative impacts caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.

Indeed, April alone saw the nation’s textile and garment exports drop by 20% in comparison to the previous month, while total import value stood at US$6.39 billion, an annual fall of 8.76%.

In light of these extraordinary circumstances, the country’s textile and apparel industry has never faced negative growth hit both imports and exports on this level, with overall export value falling by roughly 6% to 8.27 billion garment products.

Elsewhere, import value plummeted by approximately 8% to US$893 million for cotton, 2.5% to US$758 million in relation to yarn products, 11% to US$3.63 billion for fabric products, and 5.8% to US$1.11 billion for textile materials.

These figures are anticipated to endure further falls ahead in May and June due to the majority of export orders being cancelled.

At present, many local firms operating in the industry face bad debts, while plenty of garment enterprises are now running at a lower capacity after failing to receive new orders.

The association therefore reported that the cancellation of contracts and lack of new ones can be attributed to the reduction of demand for textile and garment occurring in both the United States and the EU as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. China has also been demanding less yarn from the nation due to the suspension of production during the outbreak.

With a lack of fresh export orders resulting in fewer jobs and pressure in terms of wage payments, the association has proposed a range of solutions aimed at supporting domestic enterprises. Despite this, the majority of solutions will be unable to help businesses maintain production until the end of this year.

As a result of these negative factors, the textile and garment industry is forecast to endure a sharp reduction in total export value over the course of the year. In the most positive scenario, its export value is projected to reach approximately US$35 billion this year, representing a year-on-year drop of 10%, in the worst-cast scenario, this year’s export value could reach a mere US$30 to 31 billion.