Flourishing exports in textile and garment, leather and footwear industries

Exports of textile and garments, leather and footwear hit $15.9 billion in the first four months

According to the latest report on trade and industrial manufacturing in the first four months by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the textile and garment, leather and footwear industry in the first four months has reached $15.9 billion.

This is a positive sign as some of Vietnam's major export markets gradually recovered while Vietnamese companies have taken better advantage of new free trade agreements.

Especially, the export turnover of the textile and garment sector was estimated at $9.51 billion, up 9 per cent over the same period in 2020, while fibres of all kinds increased by 43.4 per cent to $1.64 billion (the same period last year was only $1.14 billion); and fabrics and other technical fabrics increased by 35.7 per cent, reaching $215 million.

Export orders also soared in the leather and footwear industry, reflected by an export turnover of $6.392 billion, up 18.7 per cent against the $5.38 billion of the corresponding period last year.

In April, the production index of textiles increased by 2.7 per cent over the previous month and by 17.3 per cent over the same period in 2020. The index for the garment sector increased by 3.9 and 29.4 per cent, leather and related products by 1.8 and 29.3 per cent.

For the first four months, the production index of the textile sector increased by 7.8 per cent over the same period, garments increased by 9.5 per cent, leather and related products increased by 11 per cent.

Some products achieved good growth in product volume against the past year, such as fabrics made from natural fibres (up 10.1 per cent), production of textiles from synthetic fibres and synthetic fibres (up 6.4 per cent); casual clothing (up 8.9 per cent), and leather footwear (up 13.3 per cent).

In 2021, the textile and garment sector targets $38-39 billion of export turnover, while the leather and footwear industry has set a target of over $20 billion.