Since the beginning of 2026, China’s printing and dyeing industry has faced an increasingly complex and severe development environment. External instability and uncertainty have risen markedly, with the spillover effects of the Middle East conflict intensifying energy price volatility and disrupting international trade. Insufficient domestic market demand and persistently weak prices remain prominent issues, posing numerous challenges for the industry. Against this backdrop, the government has promptly stepped up macroeconomic regulation and implemented more proactive and effective policies, providing strong policy support to achieve comprehensive development goals. China’s printing and dyeing industry has fully leveraged its notable advantages in stable industrial and supply chains and strong supporting capabilities, effectively preventing and defusing various risks and challenges, stabilizing market expectations, and using the certainty of high-quality development to counter various uncertainties. In the first quarter, production in China’s printing and dyeing industry remained generally stable, with printed and dyed fabric output posting modest growth and export value continued to grow. However, market competition within the industry intensified further, key economic performance indicators declined, and business operating pressure increased. Stabilizing and recovering the industry’s economic performance still faces multiple tests.

I. Production Remained Generally Stable, with Output Maintaining a Growth Trend

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of printed and dyed fabrics by above-designated-size enterprises in the printing and dyeing industry increased by 4.24% year-on-year from January to March 2026. The growth rate was 1.50 percentage points lower than the same period last year but 3.32 percentage points higher than the full-year figure for 2025. In the first quarter, despite the complex and severe external environment, China’s macroeconomy demonstrated strong resilience, with GDP growing 5.0% year-on-year and the economy getting off to a good start. Supported by this, domestic sales of textiles and apparel recovered. In the first quarter, per capita clothing consumption expenditure of national residents increased by 5.6% year-on-year, 4.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year. Retail sales of clothing, footwear, hats, and knitted wear by above-designated-size units grew by 9.3% year-on-year, up 5.9 percentage points from the same period last year. Online retail sales of clothing nationwide grew by 11.6% year-on-year, up 11.7 percentage points from the same period last year. International market demand also showed signs of recovery, with China’s total textile and apparel exports reaching US$71.3 billion in the first quarter, seeing a year-on-year increase of 1.4%, 0.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The recovery in end-use consumer demand provided strong support for production in the printing and dyeing industry, driving steady improvement in output.

II. Exports Under Pressure but Resilient, with Export Scale Maintaining Growth

According to customs statistics, China’s total exports of printed and dyed fabrics amounted to US$16.43 billion from January to March 2026, up by 2.91% year-on-year. Of this total, exports of printed and dyed woven fabrics reached US$9.36 billion, up 2.05% year-on-year, with export volume of 10.47 billion meters, up 8.94% year-on-year, and an average export unit price of US$0.89/meter, down 6.32% year-on-year. Exports of printed and dyed knitted fabrics totaled US$7.07 billion, up 4.08% year-on-year, with export volume of 1.52 million tons, up 8.11% year-on-year, and an average export unit price of US$4,659.90/ton, down 3.60% year-on-year. Despite the complex environment, China’s printed and dyed fabric exports maintained growth, indicating that the industry remains highly competitive internationally in international markets and continues to provide solid support for global textile and apparel production and distribution.

However, current international market demand remains generally weak. The Middle East conflict has further increased global trade risks while also constraining the recovery of end-use textile and apparel consumption. International market competition facing China’s printing and dyeing industry has intensified further, and the average export unit price of printed and dyed products has yet to reverse the downward trend that began in 2025, with the decline in export unit prices for printed and dyed woven fabrics being particularly pronounced.

In the first quarter, China’s printing and dyeing industry exported US$8.49 billion in products to its top ten export destinations by volume, up 2.67% year-on-year, accounting for 51.71% of total exports. Exports to Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia together accounted for over 30% of total exports, but exports to Vietnam and Bangladesh showed signs of slowing, with export values declining by 4.16% and 2.03% year-on-year, respectively. Meanwhile, exports to Russia, Pakistan, and India all achieved double-digit growth. China’s printed and dyed fabric exports to ASEAN and RCEP trading partners underperformed the overall level. Exports to ASEAN totaled US$5.59 billion, with a marginal year-on-year increase of 0.01%, 2.88 percentage points below the overall export growth rate, accounting for 34.01% of total exports. Within this, exports of printed and dyed woven fabrics to ASEAN reached US$2.65 billion, down 2.31% year-on-year, while exports of printed and dyed knitted fabrics totaled US$2.93 billion, up 2.27% year-on-year. During the same period, China’s printing and dyeing industry exports to RCEP trading partners, with ASEAN as a major component, exhibited a similar pattern.

III. Operational Efficiency Declined, with Business Performance Clearly Under Pressure

Key operational quality indicators for the printing and dyeing industry showed an overall downward trend in the first quarter. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to March 2026, the three-period expense ratio of above-designated-size printing and dyeing factories was 8.21%, up 0.43 percentage points year-on-year, with ratios of 8.15% for woven fabrics printing and finishing and 9.72% for knitted fabric printing and finishing. The finished goods turnover rate was 10.88 times per year, down 6.08% year-on-year. The accounts receivable turnover rate was 6.73 times per year, down 4.53% year-on-year. The total asset turnover rate was 0.80 times per year, down 4.24% year-on-year. In the first quarter, amid the Middle East conflict, printing and dyeing factories generally faced risks and difficulties, including rising international shipping costs and order delivery disruptions. Product delivery efficiency declined, enterprise payment collection cycles lengthened, and the operational efficiency of the printing and dyeing industry decreased.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, the operating revenue of above-designated-size printing and dyeing factories fell by 2.62% year-on-year, and total profits declined by 16.10% year-on-year. The cost-profit margin was 2.19%, down 0.35 percentage points year-on-year, and the operating revenue profit margin was 2.08%, down 0.34 percentage points year-on-year. Among the 2,036 above-designated-size printing and dyeing factories, 895 reported losses, representing a loss ratio of 43.96%, narrowing slightly by 0.13 percentage points year-on-year. The total losses of loss-making enterprises amounted to 1.439 billion yuan, down 3.19% year-on-year. Since the beginning of this year, the Middle East conflict has caused a sharp rise in international oil prices, with notable increases in PET prices, driving up raw material costs for downstream grey fabric producers. Fabric traders have become more cautious in placing orders, affecting the order volume of printing and dyeing factories. Compounded by significant price increases in dyes, auxiliaries, and other products this year, pressure on production costs at the printing and dyeing stage has intensified. However, against the backdrop of generally weak domestic and international demand, cost pressures in the printing and dyeing sector are difficult to pass downstream effectively. Market competition has intensified further, and the industry’s overall business performance is clearly under pressure.

Looking ahead to the next stage, the printing and dyeing industry still faces numerous instabilities and uncertainties. High-level energy price fluctuations, inflationary pressures from rising oil prices, escalating trade costs, and demand contraction will become more pronounced in the second quarter, and industry exports will continue to face pressure. The easing of China-U.S. trade relations in the second quarter may provide some relief for the export pressure on China’s printing and dyeing industry. On the domestic front, the pattern of strong supply and weak demand has not fundamentally reversed, and household consumption capacity and confidence need further improvement. The quality and efficiency of development in the printing and dyeing industry are unlikely to improve significantly in the short term. However, as China’s “expanding domestic demand” policies are further implemented and gradually take effect, the role of consumption in driving economic growth will continue to strengthen, and the country’s large domestic consumer market will become an important foundation for the steady and sustained development of the printing and dyeing industry. Currently, China’s textile and apparel consumption is at a critical stage of quality upgrading. Diversified, personalized, and multi-layered demand for textiles and apparel will further expand growth opportunities in the fabric consumer market. Printing and dyeing factories should actively adapt to consumption upgrading trends, continue to deepen category innovation and quality improvement, promote the leap forward of the industrial value chain through higher-quality supply, and drive the industry’s economy toward stabilization and recovery.

Source: CHINA TEXTILE LEADER Express