The second half of the year is poised to witness textile and apparel exports continue to record falls of around 14% to 18% in comparison to the same period last year, with the year’s total export turnover reaching approximately US$32.75 billion, down roughly 16% on-year, according the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex).

Textile and apparel exports are predicted to see
a drastic decline in the remaining months of the year

According to a report released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, textile and garment production during July enjoyed a 7% increase compared to June, and an annual rise of 1.8% throughout the first seven months of the year. Indeed, apparel production in July enjoyed a boost of 13.2% over the previous month, although it declined by 4.6% on-year during the reviewed period.

The impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic has caused numerous difficulties for textile and garment production, in addition to exports, largely due to a shortage occurring in terms of export orders.

As of July, several local textile enterprises have received almost no orders for high-value products such as suits and high-end shirts during the previous two quarters. Moreover, production of medical masks and protective gear, goods that provided jobs for many garment businesses in the second quarter, saw prices plummet due to an oversupply worldwide.

Moving into the second half of the year, textile enterprises must make up for the shortage of export orders by boosting their exploitation of the domestic market.

This should be done whilst minimizing the decline in sales and profits by managing production costs, maintaining product quality, and rearranging their production forces. Furthermore, they should be identifying their key workforce that needs to maintain employment and income so that staff are able to stand together with businesses to overcome the difficult period whilst the market has yet to recover.