Fabric trade between Vietnam & Thailand drops in Jan-Sept

Major apparel exporters—Vietnam and Thailand—are seeking to expand their bilateral trade ties. Both nations depend on each other for fabric supplies, crucial for their garment industries. Between January and September 2023, Vietnam's fabric imports from Thailand decreased by 21.46 per cent, while Thailand's fabric imports from Vietnam dropped by 8.6 per cent in the same period. However, Thailand's apparel imports from Vietnam have shown significant growth. 

Recently, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Thai counterpart, Srettha Thavisin, agreed to intensify efforts to achieve a bilateral trade target of $25 billion by facilitating the flow of goods. The leaders met and discussed these matters in Tokyo on Sunday. 

Thailand was Vietnam's sixth largest fabric supplier, contributing 1.70 per cent to Vietnam's total fabric imports, which were valued at $10.478 billion from January to September 2023. Vietnam's fabric imports from Thailand during this period were valued at $178.252 million, a decrease of 21.46 per cent from the $226.952 million recorded in the first nine months of 2022. The total trade value in 2022 was $295.681 million, 5.65 per cent higher than the $279.871 million in 2021. Thailand's fabric exports constituted 1.85 per cent of Vietnam’s total fabric imports of $16.020 billion in 2022, according to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro. 

Conversely, Vietnam was Thailand's second largest fabric supplier, accounting for 10.85 per cent of its total fabric imports, which totalled $901.605 million from January to September 2023. Thailand's fabric imports from Vietnam were valued at $97.865 million during this period, down 8.6 per cent from the $107.073 million imported between January and September 2022. The total fabric imports from Vietnam in 2022 were $135.911 million, 13.65 per cent lower than the $157.388 million in 2021. Vietnam’s fabric exports constituted 9.77 per cent of Thailand’s total fabric imports of $1.390 billion in 2022. 

Thailand's apparel imports in the first three quarters of the current year totalled $1.071 billion. Imports from Vietnam, its third-largest supplier, were valued at $102.914 million, accounting for 9.61 per cent of the total. This marked a 31.52 per cent increase from the $78.349 million imported between January and September 2022. The total import in 2022 was $112.517 million, 48.03 per cent higher than the $76.010 million in 2021. However, Vietnam's apparel imports from Thailand were relatively minor, as per TexPro. 

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)