Europe's textile and garment industry expects sales and production to fall by more than 50% this yea
Europe's textile and garment industry expects sales and production to fall by more than 50% this year
According to the data, due to the outbreak of the new crown virus, the European textile and garment manufacturing industry is expected to reduce sales and production by more than 50% this year, most of which have made layoffs and face financial difficulties.
According to Eurostat data, although the sales and exports of textile and garment industry in 2019 performed well, due to the economic recession and trade friction of the EU, as well as the brexit of the UK, the manufacturing industry needs to face uncertain tariff pressure, and the European textile and garment industry has experienced a difficult 2019.
Euratex said data from the textile and ready to wear industries were consistent with the overall picture. Employment fell by more than 2% and turnover grew negatively for the first time since 2012-2013. Compared with 2018, textiles fell by 2% and clothing fell by 1.3%.
However, an ongoing questionnaire for members of Euratex shows that in March 2020, due to covid-19, the confidence index of the textile and clothing industry has "declined sharply", and the impact will only get worse.
Preliminary results of the questionnaire show that more than half of the companies expect sales and production to decline by more than 50%. In addition, 90% of the companies are facing severe financial constraints, 80% of the companies will be temporarily laid off, and 25% of the companies are considering closing down.
There are still some retailers and traders whose sales are growing, Euratex said.
In 2019, the retail sales of textiles, clothing, footwear and leather products in exclusive stores maintained a positive growth rate of 0.9%. In addition, the trade volume of 27 EU countries has exceeded 170 billion euros (about 186 billion US dollars), an increase of 4% over the previous year, and the export speed is faster than the import speed.
Euratex is worried about the crisis of covid-19 and the operation of the domestic market. The sharp and severe border control of EU countries leads to supply delay and cancellation of orders, which aggravates the impact on the economy.
The report shows that many textile and garment companies need to take immediate rescue measures because of "the strong global pressure brought by the epidemic, the limited ability to absorb and solve the crisis".
Euratex has asked the European Commission to set up a financial rescue plan to ensure a consistent approach across the EU and to avoid restrictions on the free movement of goods and labour.
Dirk vantyghem, EU director general, said: the EU and its member states must do everything possible to save our industry. At the same time, this crisis provides us with the opportunity to develop a new blueprint, and the European Commission will propose a new industrial strategy that will allow us to rethink the existing business model. "