Textile Dyeing/Printing Assistants
– Analysis of Foreign Trade

By Kang Baoxiang, China Dyestuff Industry Association

Trade in dyestuffs, pigments, intermediates and dyeing/printing assistants grew a little in China in 2015, but notably slower than in recent years. While the export of dyestuffs and pigments met setbacks, the export of assistants was robust, more than 20% higher than in the previous year – 34 kt of textile dyeing/printing assistants were exported in 2015, according to Chinese customs, up 21.5% from the previous year. The value was US$78.73 million, an increase of 9.8%. Export destinations numbered 92, three more than in the previous year.
Fifty three thousand tons of textile dyeing/printing assistants were imported, down 8.44%. The value was US$205 million, down 11.80%.
Asia has always been China’s principal export market for textile dyeing/printing assistants. Among the destinations the most rapid growth in 2015 was seen in Vietnam and Pakistan, 83% and 48%, respectively. The country whose import of such goods from China shrank most was Japan, declining by 68%. See Table 1 for details.
The export prices of textile dyeing/printing assistants dropped in 2015. Due to sustained low prices of crude oil in world markets, the export value of textile dyeing/printing assistants did not increase as much as the export volume.
China’s sources of imported textile dyeing/printing assistants numbered 62 in 2015, 29 more than in the previous year. The top three in terms of volume were India, Taiwan and Korea, all in Asia. The constant drop of international crude oil prices led directly to reduce import prices for textile dyeing/printing assistants, falling to the lowest level of the last five years.
China’s foreign trade in textile dyeing/printing assistants has declined in recent years. The export volume of textile dyeing/printing assistants peaked at 57 kt in 2008. After the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the export of textile dyeing/printing assistants plummeted. The export volume was only 28 kt in 2014. The domestic market is the major target for textile dyeing/printing assistants – only about 3% of the total output volume is exported. Export cannot be restored to earlier volumes for some time. It has hovered at around 30 kt a year in recent years.
The textile dyeing/printing assistant sector in China is burdened with numerous small enterprises and homogeneous products. The homogeneity leads to low-price competition. Special high-grade textile dyeing/printing assistants must be imported. Strengthening innovation in science and technology, and highlighting brand development are two “musts” in the internationalization of textile dyeing/printing assistants.
A growing proportion of China’s textile dyeing/printing assistants will be exported in the next few years. The rapid rise of the textile and clothing industry in Southeast Asian countries, in particular, will promote rapid growth of China’s dyeing/printing assistant exports.                              

Table 1  Top 10 destinations for textile dyeing/printing assistants exported from China

Export destination    Export volume (ton)    YoY growth (%)    Export value (US$ million)    YoY growth (%)
Hong Kong    10 385.5    29.43    15.61    -20.31
Vietnam    3 030.9    83.09    7.03    81.91
India    2 965.6    37.23    7.74    15.02
Thailand    2 514.8    -58.37    6.04    85.29
Taiwan    2 478.6    12.28    8.08    28.47
Bangladeshi    2 331.0    4.85    4.40    32.32
Indonesia    1 637.9    -18.02    5.25    3.8
Pakistan    1 324.7    47.50    2.33    33.57
Japan    1 091.3    -68.21    3.43    -2.71
Korea    910.6    14.28    5.22    22.59
Total    28 670.9        65.15