Thailand's fabric imports from China decline 14.81% in Jan-Aug 2023

Recently, Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin engaged in discussions with leaders from China, addressing various mutual concerns, including trade and economic cooperation. The Thai leader had visited China upon receiving an invitation. 

According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, Thailand had imported fabric worth $492.705 million during January-August 2022, compared to $392.811 million in January-August 2021, $337.204 million in January-August 2022, and $404.858 million in January-August 2019. 

In the previous year, Thailand imported fabric from China valued at $711.772 million, constituting 51.19 per cent of its total fabric imports, which stood at $1,390.448 million. This marked a 19.92 per cent increase from the inbound shipments worth $592.552 million in 2021. 

Thailand imported apparel from China worth $450.210 million in the first eight months of 2023, with China remaining the top supplier, holding a 47.07 per cent share of the total imports amounting to $956.410 million. Apparel imports from China remained relatively stable compared to the inbound shipments valued at $440.190 million during the same period of 2022. 

In the year 2022, the trade reached $678.547 million, showing a 13.71 per cent increase from the $596.731 million recorded in 2021. China's share amounted to 51.92 per cent of the total imports of $1,306.787 million during 2022, as per TexPro.

Thailand primarily focuses on garment manufacturing, requiring substantial fabric imports as its weaving industry is not particularly strong. Consequently, Thailand imports yarn in limited quantities, with yarn imports from China amounting to $185.124 million during January-August 2023, constituting 37.83 per cent of its total imports worth $489.330 million. In the previous year, the country imported yarn from China valued at $327.741 million, representing 39.74 per cent of the total import amounting to $824.676 million. 

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)