Economic Operation Of The Industry in The First Half Of The Year

In the first half of 2024, the global economy maintained a steady recovery, the manufacturing boom continued to improve, the inflation level steadily declined, the demand for inventory replenishment in developed countries was actively released, and global trade rebounded significantly. my country's macroeconomic policy implementation has been continuously strengthened, and the implementation of large-scale equipment renewal policies has led to improved downstream expectations. The production, sales and exports of downstream clothing, shoes and hats industries have basically stopped falling and rebounded, and investment demand has actively recovered.

Under the favorable situation of improved domestic and foreign situations and demand, my country's sewing machinery industry seized the development opportunities, actively increased production and replenished inventory, opened up domestic and foreign markets, and promoted intelligent transformation. On the basis of the low base of the previous year, the main indicators of industry production, sales, exports, and benefits have all turned from negative to positive year-on-year, and market vitality and business confidence have steadily improved, achieving a good start for the industry economy this year.

1. Economic operation of the industry in the first half of the year

1. Efficiency has improved significantly, and quality and efficiency have recovered steadily

In the first half of 2024, the scale of production and sales in the industry has recovered rapidly, leading to a significant improvement in the quality and efficiency of enterprises. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of the year, 272 large-scale production enterprises in the industry achieved operating income of 15.4 billion yuan, an increase of 18.01% year-on-year, an increase of 4.22 percentage points over the first quarter; a total profit of 775 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57.33%, an increase of 35.11 percentage points over the first quarter; operating income profit margin of 5.03%, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over the end of last year. The cost of operating income of enterprises above the scale is 82.20 yuan per 100 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.67%; the proportion of three expenses of enterprises above the scale is 9.63%, a year-on-year decrease of 7.62%.

In the first half of the year, the loss of the industry further narrowed, and the operating efficiency of enterprises recovered steadily, but attention should still be paid to problems such as high accounts receivable. As of the end of June, the loss of enterprises above the scale in the industry was 27.57%, a narrowing of 7.41 percentage points over the same period last year; the loss amount decreased by 17.25% year-on-year, and the depth of loss was 17.21%, a narrowing of 47.40 percentage points over the same period last year. The turnover rate of finished products and total asset turnover rate of enterprises above designated size in the industry increased by 25.22% and 14.17% year-on-year respectively; the amount of accounts receivable was 7.3 billion yuan, an increase of 1.47% year-on-year, accounting for 47.5% of the current operating income, which was higher than the average of 38% of industrial enterprises above designated size in the country during the same period.

2. Production grew at a medium speed, and inventory was generally stable

Driven by the recovery of demand and replenishment of inventory, the overall production of the industry showed a trend of recovery and growth. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to June, the cumulative industrial added value growth rate of enterprises above designated size in my country's sewing machinery industry reached 7.0%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points over the first quarter, higher than the cumulative industrial added value growth rate of 5.6% of enterprises above designated size in light industry production special equipment manufacturing during the same period, and also higher than the average of 6.0% of the cumulative added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in the country during the same period.

According to the statistics of the association's 100 complete machine enterprises, the total industrial output value of the industry's 100 enterprises in the first six months was 11.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.25%; the output of sewing equipment was 3.15 million units, a year-on-year increase of 6.65%; the output of industrial sewing machines was 2.35 million units, a year-on-year increase of 16.39%. Among them, computer flat cars, overlock, stretch, thick material, embroidery machines, etc. showed a double-digit medium-speed growth, and template machines, automatic machines, etc. showed a medium-to-high-speed growth. At the end of June, the number of employees in the 100 enterprises increased by 1.08% year-on-year.

From the monthly production of industrial sewing machines of the 100 complete machine enterprises in the industry, production has increased significantly compared with the previous year. In January, enterprises took the initiative to replenish inventory and increase exports, and the output of industrial sewing machines remained at 403,000 units, a month-on-month increase of 1.96%. In February, affected by the Spring Festival holiday, the output of industrial sewing machines was 269,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.86%. In March, with the full resumption of work and production of enterprises, the release of accumulated order demand and the rapid recovery of foreign trade markets in some regions, the output of industrial sewing machines rebounded sharply to 482,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.81%. In the second quarter, affected by the slow decline in market demand, the industry's production rebounded slowly again after a slight decline in April, and the monthly output of industrial sewing machines stabilized at more than 400,000 units.

At the end of June, the inventory of various sewing equipment of 100 complete machine enterprises in the industry reached 740,000 units (including 530,000 industrial sewing machines), a year-on-year decrease of 14.60%, showing a significant decline compared with the inventory of nearly one million units at the end of last year. The industry has achieved significant results in clearing inventory and reducing inventory, which has reserved a certain development space for increased production in the second half of the year.

3. Domestic demand has clearly rebounded, with sales rising at the beginning and falling at the end

In the first half of the year, the country's series of policies to stabilize growth have gradually taken effect, and the development expectations of downstream industries such as clothing have improved significantly. Investment demand and per capita clothing consumption expenditure have increased. Exports of clothing, home textiles, footwear, luggage and other industries have achieved single-digit positive growth. The recovery of demand in traditional markets such as the United States and the European Union has also provided positive support for the recovery of production and exports in domestic downstream industries. The domestic demand for equipment procurement has been released quickly and concentratedly. At the same time, the backbone complete machine enterprises of sewing machinery have increased their marketing efforts, and have worked hard to leverage the stock market by participating in well-known exhibitions, accelerating the promotion of new products, focusing on the publicity of large single products and related activities such as profit-sharing promotions. Therefore, based on the low base of domestic sales last year, these positive factors have driven the domestic sales market of sewing equipment to achieve a significant rebound in stages in the first half of this year.

According to incomplete surveys and statistical estimates, in the first half of the year, the domestic sales of industrial sewing equipment of backbone complete machine enterprises in my country achieved an average double-digit medium-speed growth of about 20% year-on-year, and the growth rate of some enterprises even exceeded 50%. There are also a considerable number of medium-sized enterprises that have maintained medium-to-low-speed growth in domestic sales. Among them, the industry's domestic sales increased significantly in the first quarter and slowed down in the second quarter. This rare recovery is due to the low base of domestic sales last year, the concentrated release of some sluggish equipment renewal demand at the beginning of the year, the steady growth of downstream demand this year, the active replenishment of enterprises, the hot demand in some clothing fields such as Hanfu, horse-faced skirts, down jackets, and the active actions of sewing machine companies to leverage the weak market through various means.

According to the latest customs data, my country imported 33,600 industrial sewing machines in the first half of the year, with an import value of US$55.09 million, an increase of 71.35% and 48.93% year-on-year respectively, and the import value of parts was US$42.78 million, an increase of 70.92% year-on-year, showing that the recovery of the domestic downstream industry has released a large market demand for mid-to-high-end special sewing equipment and automation equipment.

4. Exports stabilized and rebounded, and the positive trend strengthened

In the first half of the year, with the continued recovery of the global economy and the release of demand for footwear and clothing restocking in developed economies, market demand in some regions such as South Asia, ASEAN, Africa, and Latin America has rebounded, and footwear and clothing production and exports in key overseas markets have generally achieved restorative growth, which has effectively driven the stabilization and improvement of my country's sewing machinery exports.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs: In the first half of the year, the cumulative export value of my country's sewing machinery products was US$1.608 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.15%. From the monthly export trend, the monthly export growth rate of my country's sewing machinery industry has turned from negative to positive since December 2023. In January, the industry's exports were US$296 million, a year-on-year increase of 3.86% and a month-on-month increase of 19.37%; in February, affected by factors such as the Spring Festival holiday, the industry's exports fell to US$192 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.77% and a month-on-month decrease of 34.99%. In March, under the general environment of repeated global inflation and capital tightening, the industry's exports were US$237 million, a year-on-year decrease of 17.24%, showing a tightening trend at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, the global manufacturing boom and international trade continued to improve, overseas market demand for sewing machinery products gradually recovered, and the industry's exports stopped falling and returned to positive. By May and June, the industry's monthly exports remained above US$300 million, achieving a steady recovery.

In terms of export products, my country exported 2.28 million industrial sewing machines in the first half of the year, with an export value of US$730 million, up 1.49% and 5.28% year-on-year, respectively. Among them, the export volume of automatic sewing machines was 1.53 million units, with an export value of US$534 million, up 4.24% and 10.59% year-on-year, respectively. The volume and value of automatic products in industrial sewing machines accounted for 66.99% and 73.17%, respectively, and their volume and value accounted for 1.76 and 3.51 percentage points respectively compared with the same period last year; the export volume of embroidery machines was 52,000 units (including products below US$2,000), with an export value of US$288 million, up 35.59% and 28.11% year-on-year, respectively; the export volume of pre-sewing and post-sewing equipment was 870,000 units, with an export value of US$235 million, up 32.31% and 13.69% year-on-year, respectively.

In terms of export prices, in the first half of the year, the export prices of various sewing machinery products in my country, except for industrial sewing machines, showed a downward trend year-on-year. Among them, the average export price of industrial sewing machines was US$319.8 per unit, a year-on-year increase of 3.73%; the average export price of embroidery machines was US$5,570 per unit, a year-on-year decrease of 8.23%.

From the perspective of key export regional markets, my country's exports of sewing machinery products to Asia, Latin America, and Africa in the first half of 2024 showed an increase, while exports to Europe, North America, and Oceania showed a year-on-year decline. Among the regional markets, my country's exports to the "Belt and Road" market amounted to US$1.121 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.05%, accounting for 69.74% of the industry's exports, an increase of 5.22 percentage points over the same period last year; exports to the RCEP market amounted to US$482 million, a year-on-year increase of 29.51%, accounting for 29.97% of the industry's exports, an increase of 4.48 percentage points over the same period last year; exports to the ASEAN market amounted to US$423 million, a year-on-year increase of 41.65%, accounting for 26.28% of the industry's exports, a year-on-year increase. The export to South Asia was 413 million US dollars, up 41.11% year-on-year, accounting for 25.70% of the industry's export volume, an increase of 5.64 percentage points over the same period last year; the export to West Asia was 134 million US dollars, down 13.72% year-on-year; the export to the EU market was 67.22 million US dollars, down 26.47% year-on-year; the export to East Asia was 51.95 million US dollars, down 21.17% year-on-year; the export to Central Asia was 43.49 million US dollars, down 46.55% year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, the export volume of the industry's top four export markets (India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Brazil) all showed a significant year-on-year increase. The cumulative export of sewing machine products to India was US$250 million, a year-on-year increase of 28.70%, accounting for 15.52% of my country's industry exports; exports to Vietnam were US$177 million, a year-on-year increase of 64.84%, accounting for 11.03% of my country's industry exports; exports to Pakistan were US$80.39 million, a year-on-year increase of 160.46%, accounting for 5.00% of my country's industry exports; exports to Brazil were US$70.46 million, a year-on-year increase of 45.56%, accounting for 4.38% of my country's industry exports.