At the beginning of the year, Vietnamese textile and garment exports were "in high demand", but why don't businesses dare to sell much?

In January, Vietnam's textile and garment exports remained firmly in the 'billion-dollar club'. There are businesses with orders until June and many partners, but they do not dare to sign long-term contracts. Why is that?

Vietnam's textile and garment exports in January brought in nearly 3.2 billion USD, up 1.8% over the same period in 2024 - Photo: QUANG DINH

According to data from the General Statistics Office, in January, there were 7 groups of industries with export turnover of over 1 billion USD; of which textiles and garments ranked 4th with nearly 3.2 billion USD, up 1.8% over the same period in 2024.

In fact, in the first months, many textile and garment export enterprises had orders to be delivered until the end of May and June. However, enterprises still considered choosing partners, and did not even dare to deliver far away for fear of higher selling prices compared to the signed contract.

On February 9, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , a leader of Nha Be Garment Joint Stock Corporation (HCMC) admitted that the textile and garment industry in 2024 will be more prosperous than in 2023.

This person said: "Therefore, in 2025, orders will improve a lot. Many businesses have exported their brands to many countries with new customers, and have signed orders to be delivered until the end of June. Overall, it is a great opportunity and promises to be positive.

The job now is just to monitor and choose to decide on a partner to sign a long-term contract to avoid the price increasing compared to before, which will not maximize profits.

Sharing the same view, the sales manager of a textile company (headquartered in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) also said that orders in the first month of the year were stable, inventory was not high, so the company was importing a lot of raw materials to fulfill new export orders to Singapore and Hong Kong.

"Market developments are now full of surprises, so businesses need to plan, time to complete orders, and prepare for any unexpected events before receiving deposits. We dare not sign orders for the third quarter even though partners have expressed their interest. Because we are afraid that raw materials imported from China will increase in price due to the impact of new taxes, the general selling price will fluctuate, so we have to slow down," he explained.

Commenting on the general picture of Vietnam's textile and garment export industry, Mr. Le Tien Truong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) - said that in January, export turnover increased by 3.2 billion USD; fiber, yarn, and fabric alone reached 500 million USD (while in the same period last year, the turnover brought in 3.3 billion USD; of which fiber, yarn, and fabric was 400 million USD).

Explaining the industry's monthly growth in the first months of the year, Mr. Truong calculated that the growth in January this year was 15%/day, primarily coming from the market.

"The amount of goods sold from inventory has increased. Many businesses believe that export policies will be affected by Mr. Trump's new tax rate, so for now, they are just pushing forward with exporting orders. The general trend is to wait and see how trade policies play out. Any concerns are just emotional, because developments are unpredictable," said Mr. Truong.

Many businesses are holding back on signing orders because they are worried that China will increase raw material prices after "absorbing" Mr. Trump's new tax rate. Mr. Truong expressed his opinion that he is not worried.

He analyzed: "China is the world's largest producer of textile materials, supplying raw materials for the garment industry to the whole world, not just Vietnam. China's total supply to the world accounts for 54% compared to only 40% for Vietnam. Vietnam is a highly self-reliant country, and businesses have also calculated and proactively planned for unexpected situations to avoid new situations."

This year, textile and garment exports aim for 3-5% growth

Vietnam Textile and Garment Group believes that if the textile market relies on the scenario of total global textile demand growth (reaching 850 billion USD), Vietnam's textile and garment export turnover in 2025 is forecast to grow by 3-5% compared to 2024, equivalent to 45.5 - 46 billion USD.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dau-nam-det-may-viet-nam-xuat-khau-dat-khach-nhung-vi-sao-doanh-nghiep-khong-dam-ban-nhieu-20250210131849769.htm