During the first five months of this year, Vietnam overtook China as the country with the largest market share of textile and garment exports to the United States. The country also achieved the highest export growth for these items among the world’s top three exporters, the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) reported.
According to Vinatex, Vietnam’s textile and apparel exports from January to May totaled around US $ 16 billion, up 5 per cent from the previous year. Of that amount, US $ 6 billion came from the US market, a 4 per cent increase from the same period last year.
With such results, Vietnam has surpassed China to claim the lead in the global market share of textile and garment exports to the United States. Among the top three exporters of these goods worldwide during this time, Vietnam has also experienced the strongest export growth, according to Vinatex general director Cao Huu Hieu.
The other two nations in the top three are Bangladesh and China. According to Vinatex data, Bangladesh earned US $ 21.7 billion, up 3.9 per cent, while China’s total textile-garment export turnover from January to May was US $ 66 billion, down 2 per cent from the previous year.
However, Vinatex pointed out that rather than being the result of rising demand worldwide, Vietnam’s rise has mostly been caused by a transfer of numerous orders from other nations to Vietnam and a 5 per cent decline in the value of the Vietnamese dong relative to the US dollar.
Many textile businesses have had to adapt to the intense competition in the market by producing items made of blended and recycled fibres, which are outside their areas of expertise, in order to gain traction in niche markets. These businesses nevertheless produce traditional cotton fibre products.
Simultaneously, they are upgrading production technology, promoting new product research and development, and attempting to find new customers in order to lessen reliance on established markets.
