China's Share in EU Textile Imports Dips Further in 2016

The leading position of China as the main supplier of textiles and apparel to the EU has continued to be eroded in 2016, by the increasingly vigorous entry of other production zones. Undeniably, the main beneficiary of this was the SAARC zone, which has grown slowly but steadily since 2010, according to the European Apparel and Textile Confederation.

Mediterranean countries have experienced the same scenario as China between 2010 and 2015, but import shares have stabilised or even improved in 2016, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) said in its bulletin no. 01/2017.

The Euratex report analyses the 2016 EU external trade for the textile and clothing sector as well as the main EU suppliers and customers, evaluates the weight of regions and sectors in total EU trade and includes detailed tables and graphs for the 33 main EU trade partners.

In 2016, four zones—China, Mediterranean, SAARC and ASEAN—accounted for over 86 per cent of total extra-EU textile and clothing imports. EU-28 imports originating from these groupings primarily related to clothing goods.

In terms of products, China prevailed as the main supplier of woven garments to EU last year. However, China’s share continued to decline to the benefit of South Asian and Mediterranean countries. Concerning imports of knitted garments, China was overtaken by the SAARC zone, the report said.

Analysing EU-28 exports scenario, the report states that exports struggled to grow in a difficult global economy and faced issues in maintaining market shares, principally in made up articles.

Compared to last year, EU exports’ shares remained stable for the four main defined country groupings: NAFTA, EFTA, the Mediterranean countries and the group of autonomous countries. These four groups accounted for 58 per cent of extra-EU textile and clothing exports in 2016.

Woven fabrics were the major textiles exported by the EU. The NAFTA zone and the Mediterranean countries were the biggest purchasers of textile goods, while EFTA and NAFTA areas made up the two main buyers of clothing articles. However, in absolute value, there was little growth in EU exports to these EFTA and NAFTA zones.