According to the latest economic survey of the European Garment and Textile Industry Alliance (EURATEX), the European textile and clothing (T&asdfssdfsmp;C) industry is emerging from the COVID-19 crisis, but it will still face new challenges in the future. challenge. Since the fourth quarter of 2019, textile activity has exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 3.6%. The apparel industry is still at a low of 22.5%, but continues to improve.
Textile sales grew by 3.3% in the second quarter of 2021 after shrinking slightly in the first quarter of 2021. Similarly, business activities in the apparel industry also increased by 7% in the second quarter of 2021, after growing by 1% in the previous quarter. However, EURATEX said in a press release that this recovery may be disrupted by current supply chain and energy issues.
The T&asdfssdfsmp;C trade balance of the 27 EU countries improved in the second quarter of 2021, mainly due to increased export sales in third-party markets and decreased textile imports. Compared with the same period last year, T&asdfsssdfsmp;C Extras-EU exports increased by 49%. Due to reduced imports from some major supplier countries, T&asdfsssdfs-EU imports fell by 26% compared with the same period last year. EU imports from China and the UK collapsed due to Brexit and weak European demand.
Job opportunities created by the textile industry grew slowly and steadily in the second quarter of 2021, and employment in the garment industry continued to be affected by the low level of industrial production activity in the first half of the year. Compared with pre-pandemic levels in the fourth quarter of 2019, employment in the EU still fell by 4.4% in the second quarter of 2021, and the garment industry fell by 22.8%.
However, this fragile recovery is hampered by rising transportation costs and rising raw material and energy prices. Energy costs, especially natural gas, have more than tripled since the beginning of this year. Since the EU announced its ‘Fit for 55’ package, we have seen CO2 prices rise to over €60. This will inevitably have an impact on industrial competitiveness, especially on a global scale. There are also some constraints on future recovery due to production The threat of factors such as labor and equipment shortages has put additional pressure on the T&asdfssdfsmp;C industry.
EURATEX has shown great resilience during the pandemic, and industry players Recent export performance has also shown encouraging signs of recovery. However, current supply chain and energy issues may disrupt this recovery. Recent developments have once again shown that only by organizing on a global scale, avoiding carbon leakage and having effective A level playing field can achieve a transition to more sustainable production. This must be taken into account in the upcoming EU textile strategy, EURATEX Secretary General Dirk Vasdfssdfsntyghem responded.</p
