THE ITALIAN YARN INDUSTRY IN

Transcription

1 THE ITALIAN YARN INDUSTRY IN Notes by: For: Federazione Tessile e Moda Centro Studi Pitti Immagine Filati 1. The 2015 sector balance-sheet In 2015, following a three-year period in the negative numbers, the Italian yarn industry (wool, cotton, and linen yarns) confirmed the levels attained over the course of the year 2014: sector turnover, in fact, settled at 2.9 billion euro. With respect to the forecasts published last January, when we still expected to see a drop on the order of -1.7, the industry demonstrated a capacity for recovery well beyond expectations. Woolen spinning was once again the preponderant segment, accounting for 82.2 of all of sector turnover; cotton yarns accounted for 14.8 and preceded linen yarns rather limited 3 share. Nevertheless, the average yarn industry balance was a composite of the opposing trends for wool and cotton yarns. The first segment inverted the trend and closed the year 2015 with a slight increase of +0.9, In 2015, Italian spinning was stable at the levels reached in Table 1 The Italian Yarn Industry ( ) (millions euro at current value) Figure 1 Italian Spinning Sales in 2015 ( share by segment) Sales ,3-2,0 0,0 Value of Production ,2-2,7-0,8 Exports ,4-3,0 0,0 Imports ,3 0,3 1,9 Trade Balance Cotton 14,8 Linen 3,0 Apparent Consumption ,8-1,2 0,1 Structural Indicators () Exports/Sales 29,8 30,1 29,8 29,8 Imports/Apparent Consumption 44,5 45,7 46,4 47,2 Wool 82,2 Source: ISTAT and internal survey data processed by SMI

2 but cotton spinning caved by What s more, linen yarns, after their doubledigit rebound in 2014, decelerated and closed 2015 with a mere +1.1 growth rate. The value of production for the year showed a slight decrease, recording a variation of -0.8: a decided slowdown with respect to the preceding two-year period. Over the course of 2015, industry exports were still characterized by negative dynamics which nevertheless improved month by month until the turnabout in December. Such performance is attributable, in primis, to wool spinning (which climbed from the -5.0 of the first quarter to +0.6 for the year); cotton yarns exports for the year were down, contrariwise to their performance in Overall, foreign sales of yarn industry products, like turnover, was substantially stable at 2014 levels, with a value of 871 million euro. At the same time, yarn imports increased by +1.9, for a corresponding total, in value, of 849 million euro. Consequently, the foreign trade balance for Italian spinning was still positive overall, although it fell to 22 million euro. This surplus is attributable, in the main, to the performance of the carded yarns (156 million), supported, albeit marginally, by the needlework yarns (74 million). Vice-versa, the 2015 foreign trade balances for cotton/linen yarns (115 million) as well as the combed wool (-46 million) and chemical fiber/wool blends (-12 million) remained negative. On the domestic market front, apparent consumption, gross inventories, veered upwards and is estimated to have enjoyed a very slight increase (+0.1). Domestic demand for cotton-segment spinning products was still falling (-3.9) but was instead growing for the yarns spun of wools (+1.0) and of linen (+8.1). In 2015, exports stabilized at the values attained in 2014 but imports grew by Apparent consumption did not improve by more than Table 2 Italian Yarn Industry Foreign Trade in 2015: Analysis by Sub-Sectors Imports Exports Balance Carded wool yarns 37-18, ,5 156 Combed wool yarns 295 2, ,7-46 Chemical/wool yarns 113 9, ,9-12 Needlework yarns 12-11, ,0 74 Cotton yarns 315 0, ,3-115 Linen yarns 77 11,9 41 1,7-36 Total 849 1, ,0 21

3 2. The economic situation in the first quarter 2016 Italian spinning opened the current year, as the last, with plays of light and shadow. In detail, the ISTAT industrial production index data referred to spinning (ATECO Code CB 13.1) in the first four months of 2016 shows good growth, of +2.6, buoyed by the datum for the months of February and, above all, April. With reference, instead, to foreign trade in the period from January through March 2016, yarn industry exports were still experiencing somewhat lackadaisical dynamics and slowed by In the same period, however, imports were growing at a vigorous pace (+4.6). The overall balance for the three-month period was thus negative, to the tune of 22.7 million euro (that is, almost double that of the first quarter of 2015). Turning now to analysis of the single yarn types we examined, we note that in the period from January through March 2016, foreign sales of cotton yarns lost ground (-3.7) while exports of wool yarns increased by a modest +2.6 and sales abroad of linen yarns grew by a good In more detail, within the wool yarns segment, exports of carded products were off by -7.8 and foreign sales of needlework yarns lost -9.6; balancing these losses were growth rates of upwards of 7.0 for both combed wool and chemical fiber/wool blend yarns. For Italian spinning, the year 2016 opened with a +2.6 increase in production (ISTAT data). In the first quarter of 2016, exports slowed by -0.2 but imports grew by Lively growth rhythms for exports of combed wool yarns (+7.2) and chemical fiber/wool blends (+7.5), but falloffs for cottons (-3.7) and carded wool yarns (-7.8). On the imports front, vice-versa, we saw growth for cotton yarns (+4.6) as well as for linens (+14.8). Also on the increase were imports of combed wool yarns (+5.2) and needlework yarns (+33.3). Differently, supplies from abroad of carded wool yarns and chemical fiber/wool blends were both down, by -8.0 and -1.1, respectively. A look at results in terms of quantity, for both exports and imports, reveals dynamics aligned with the figures for values. Export volume was in fact down by -0.3 while import volume grew by By single yarn types, the drop-offs were more accentuated in the volume figures, to the exception of cotton yarns, for which the loss in exports in physical terms was limited to Table 3 Italian Yarn Industry Foreign Trade in the First Quarter 2016: Analysis by Sub-Sectors Imports Exports Balance Tons Tons Carded wool yarns 674 5,8 11-8, ,6 49-7,8 38,1 Combed wool yarns ,5 96 5, ,2 71 7,2-24,4 Chemical/wool yarns ,7 26-1, ,0 27 7,5 0,8 Needlework yarns ,2 3 33, ,2 15-9,6 12,6 Cotton yarns ,2 88 4, ,1 49-3,7-38,3 Linen yarns , , ,2 9 7,8-11,6 Total , , , ,2-22,7

4 Both combed wool and linen yarns grew more by volume than by value. As far as imports were concerned, only carded wool yarns showed an opposing valuevolume trend, where the increase amounted to In the other cases, performance in terms of volume was inferior to performance measured in value. In the principal customer market rankings, Hong Kong was still the top foreign market for Italian carded wool yarns (absorbing 29.8 of Italy s total exports of this yarn type) but its dynamics were negative, with a loss. Growing, instead, were sales to the United Kingdom (+5.8), Romania (+37.1) and Turkey (+51.4); contrariwise, Croatia, after the -50 loss of 2015, decelerated by Hong Kong was in first place among Italy s customer markets for combed wool yarns as well (with an 18.9 share of the total) with +7.6 growth; after the heavy losses of the first quarter of 2015, Romania, in second place, recovered by The Czech Republic is enjoying a holdover of its very lively dynamics (+44.7). And if, on the one hand, exports to France were up by +12.8, outgoing flows to Germany lost In the case of chemical fiber/wool yarns, Croatia, Italy s top customer country with a 14.7 share, enjoyed a mini-boom (+78.7). Hong Kong, our second-place market for these yarns, increased its absorbance capacity by We also saw significant growth by Austria and Spain (respectively, by and +90.2); Turkey, instead, fell off by As regards the top customers for Italy s cotton yarns, first-ranking Germany slowed by -11.8; exports to the United Kingdom (in third place) also slowed, by At the other end of the scale were the positive performances by the Czech Republic (+4), France (+13.6), and Spain (+8.9). Exports of carded yarns to Hong Kong lost but sales to the United Kingdom, Romania and Turkey increased. Exports of combed yarns to Hong Kong were up by +7.6; sales to Romania, the Czech Republic and France were also growing. We saw slowdowns in exports of cotton yarns to Germany and the United Kingdom but increases in sales to the Czech Republic, France, and Spain. A look at Italy s foreign suppliers or carded wool yarns, again in the period from January through March 2016, shows that the United Kingdom, with a +2.3 growth rate, topped Lithuania (which instead fell off by -16.1: each commanding a more than 30 share of the market, these two nations together account for 66.8 of Italy s imports in this segment. Following last year s boom, imports from China fell off significantly (-33.1), but incoming flows from Poland were on the rise (+12.8). In the period in question, imports of combed wool yarns from Germany increased by +1.5; imports from Bulgaria (Italy s second supplier for this segment) instead fell but braked at Poland and the Czech Republic, third- and fourth-ranking suppliers, respectively. were both growing, the first by and the second by Romania and Thailand also grew, both by As for chemical fiber/wool yarns, we saw a +9.7 increase in imports from Romania, which thus accounted for 49.5 of total imports of this semi-finished product. Steps backward, instead, for both Bulgaria (-18.3) and Turkey (-6.6). Imports from Portugal closed with a variation of

5 Table 4 - Exports of for Industry: Country by Country Analysis (period: January-March 2016) Carded wool and fine-hair yarns Combed wool and fine-hair yarns TOTAL ,8 100,0 Hong Kong ,2 29,8 UK ,8 16,3 Croatia ,9 10,3 Romania ,1 5,7 Turkey ,4 4,6 TOTAL ,2 100,0 Hong Kong ,6 18,9 Romania ,0 11,8 Czech Rep ,7 10,3 France ,8 8,5 Germany ,6 5, Chemical fiber/wool yarns Cotton yarns TOTAL ,5 100,0 Croatia ,7 14,7 Hong Kong ,4 10,4 Austria ,3 8,6 Turkey ,2 7,6 Spain ,2 7,4 TOTAL ,7 100,0 Germany ,8 15,3 Czech Rep ,0 12,8 UK ,1 6,6 France ,6 6,5 Spain ,9 6,1 Lastly, with reference to imports of cotton yarns, we saw growth for all four of Italy s top suppliers: Turkey, which supplies 30 of all segment imports, was up by +10.7; Egypt, with a 19.1 share, grew by +2.1; India, with a 13.8 incidence on the total, by +2.3; and China, source of 12.4 of imports, by According to the Sistema Moda Italia estimates, in 2016 the Textile-Fashion chain as a whole should enjoy a continuation of the positive trend, although in a leisurely adagio tempo (+1 in the 12-month period). The Pitti Filati trade fair will offer an opportunity for the members of the trade to sound buyers orientations and to glimpse the opportunities that may be opening in the immediate future for Made in Italy yarns: yarns whose quality and whose renown in terms of aesthetics and innovative content combine to create a market plus which, it is to be hoped, will once again spark demand on both the foreign and domestic markets Publication by Tessile & Moda Service soc. Unipersonale Florence, 29 June 2016 This publication (hereinafter document ) is an exclusive original work by SMI - Sistema Moda Italia (Federation of Italian Textile and Fashion Enterprises, member of Confindustria [Italian Manufacturers Association]) for Tessile & Moda Service soc. Unipersonale. SMI - Sistema Moda Italia carries on numerous activities that target safeguarding and promoting the interests of textile-fashion sector companies. This document is designed for distribution by electronic and ordinary mail and may not be re-distributed, reproduced, published, or altered in whole or in part by persons not expressly authorized to do so. All authors rights reserved. The scope of this document is purely informative and does not represent either an offer or an inducement to any transaction. The information, opinions, estimates, and forecasts contained in this document were taken or derived from sources held to be reliable by SMI - Sistema Moda Italia but which do not constitute any form of guarantee, either implicit or explicit. For this reason, SMI- Sistema Moda Italia and Tessile & Moda Service soc. Unipersonale assume no responsibility for the same.