China has imported US$ 41.836 million worth of cotton yarn from Pakistan in August, which is 4.36 times the US$ 9.592 million in the same period last year, with a year-on-year increase of 336 percent, as per data from China’s General Administration of Customs.
Huang Xifen, sales executive of import and export department at Litai Xingshi (Taicang) Holding Co. Ltd told China Economic Net at the 2020 Autumn Joint Exhibition of China National Textile and Apparel Council in Shanghai said that Pakistan mainly produces low-count sirospun yarns, such as those of 8s or 10s, generally below 21s, which are mostly imported to south China’s Guangdong province to be made into denim.
Another importer, Yang Bin, director of Seazon Textile and Apparel Co., Ltd in Foshan, China said, he imported about 1,000 tons of cotton yarns from Pakistan every year. Our denim fabric is made of thick and low-count yarns, which are basically 10s or 8s, no more than 12s. The fabric woven with higher-count yarns is thinner and softer.Yang said that he has cooperated with Pakistan’s cotton yarn manufacturers for 10 years. “As for Pakistan’s cotton yarn, we only imported it from Explorer, a Pakistani manufacturer, with which we have cooperated for more than ten years.
The main reason for the surge in import lies in the fact that Pakistan’s yarn export to China enjoys zero tariff, thus having a greater competitive advantage internationally. That’s why we prefer Pakistani cotton yarn even when offered the same price, said KeJiangwei, general manager of Xiamen Naseem Trade Co., Ltd, which has been importing Pakistani yarn for many years in China.
“It is not just tariffs, but the price that attracts us,” said Yang, adding that “as Pakistani yarn is much cheaper than the Chinese one, the largest gap reached RMB 2,000 to 3,000 per ton in the last two years, with a price gap of about 10%. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic this year, domestic cotton yarn cannot sell well in China, thus narrowing the price gap to about RMB 1,000.” At present, China’s domestic cotton yarn inventory is relatively low, and some traders have a hoarding mindset. Ke analyzed that the inventory of cotton yarn has been reduced very quickly in the past week or two. “On the one hand, there is a lot of demand. Foreign orders, which had been held back for too long, have been gradually released. On the other hand, everyone thinks that the price of cotton yarn is very low now.
Considering that clothing is a product concerning people’s livelihood, everyone wants to stock up when the price is relatively low.” In the field of denim fabrics, will China increase imports and use of Pakistani yarn in the future? In this regard, Yang said that China’s domestic denim fabrics are relatively variable according to specific orders, so sticking to one kind of cotton yarn would be risky.
“Most jeans today are made of stretch fabric, which mainly uses Chinese yarns. Pakistan mainly produces flat yarns, which are a kind of warp yarns and cannot be made into elastic denim, while weft yarns and slub yarns used in denim are not available in Pakistan.” On the other hand, Yang introduced that many clothing enterprises are doing fast spinning this year via live streaming. Finished clothing needs to be delivered within 15 days after users place an order, so most garment factories purchase off-the-shelf fabrics. As a consequence, the time left for fabric processing factories is also limited. “The fabric should be produced within a week, otherwise garment factories will barely have time in manufacturing. Therefore, we mainly purchase cotton yarns in stock, and it will be too late to order them from Pakistan.” So how can the export potential of Pakistani cotton yarn be improved? Does the Chinese market still need Pakistani cotton yarn? “For example, 8s and 10s cotton yarns from Pakistan are currently in great demand in Lanxi City, east China’s Zhejiang Province. A factory with more than 200 looms can manage 200-300 tons of cotton yarns,” He Hao, a salesperson from Shengzhou Shengtai Haobang Textile Co., Ltd. Company, said.
Since China mainly produces high-count yarns, the output of such low-count yarns cannot meet China’s domestic demand, He explained. “I don’t know if there is an organization abroad dedicated to matching supply with demand.” Meanwhile, He suggested that Pakistan could try to produce cotton yarns with mixed cotton through a new technique called rotor spinning.
“Our traditional peak season is coming. The fabrics for autumn and winter are thicker so more yarns are required. We may consume twice the amount of yarns then as compared in the rest of a year. For example, it used to be only one ton, but now it needs two tons. Pakistani cotton spinning products are what we need for a long time, so will continue to import them as long as they can be consumed in China’s factories and their prices are acceptable,” Ke said.
