It seems like the world has shifted on its axis and the end of this pandemic is not in sight. Yet, medical professionals, government leaders, citizens, essential providers, businessmen and more are all fighting endlessly every single day in an effort to heal, recover and rebuild. Every corner of the world, every person, every business is impacted in some or the other manner by the far-out ripples of COVID-19. Let’s look at the deep impacts created in the textile and apparel industries around the world.
Effects of Covid-19 on the Global Textile Industry
With so many people losing their lives due to the deadly Coronavirus, governments and countries around the world are in a desperate frenzy 24/7 to mitigate the rather difficult situation and curb the spread of the disease. Inevitably, the disease has had a profound impact on global economies, too. There are also chances of the virus spreading through products if the virus remains on the surface. And through the droplets of an infected person, hence, social distancing norms and lockdowns have been activated across countries.
These steps are effective in trying to reduce the spread of COVID 19, but unfortunately, they have their positive as well as negative repercussions. One of them being the way these essential steps for public health and safety have hindered the workings of almost every economy. If we take into consideration, the textile industry, one of the major businesses established in every nation, many textile mills have reported a striking decrease in production.
The employment rate when it comes to garment enterprises and wholesale textile mills have also broken down these markets, placed considerable duress on fabric manufacturers, and opened doors for stagflation.
Impacts of Coronavirus on Textile Establishments
The secondary sector of economies has been heavily affected. As all efforts are directed towards safety, prevention, and recovery, business units have slowed down considerably. At national levels, businesses such as clothing and fashion, tourism, hospitality, and restaurants have come to a halt as people are being cautious about staying in and avoiding close contact in communal spaces or going out in public unnecessarily. The restrictions placed on tourism and imports due to the spread of the virus have resulted in huge losses for the economy and created a lot of pressure on officials. In the Indian domestic market space, the price for cotton yarns has already decreased by 4-5%.
How has India Reacted to COVID-19?
India has been gravely affected by the virus being the second-most populous country in the world. As imports, exports, and international flights have been stagnated, there have been major chain reactions on the economy, too. Businesses have suffered heavy setbacks, and crunches in the currency are faced too. One of the strongest business units of the country, the textile unit, have also shown lower levels of production. Indian garment businesses have been severely impacted, causing alarm for future inflation and current depression. The wholesale markets of India have also shown a decline.
Coronavirus Effects on the US Garment Industry
The production in the garment sectors of America has slowed down as a result of a decrease in exports & imports. The employment rates in the country have also been hindered, creating a long flow of currency in the markets. Textile company productions in the country and its esteemed economy have fallen by 60%. Undoubtedly, fabric manufactures of America are significantly deterred by fallouts due to the virus.
Impacts of COVID-19 on China’s Textile Industry
China, as a nation, has had high trading relations with countries like India, Pakistan, and others. With the curb on exports and imports placed world over, China has faced drastic impairments on international grounds. The cloth markets, garment industry, and wholesale textile markets of the countries have all taken setbacks. India too had imports of 360 million dollars from the country which have now been halted. A situation of such magnitude could very well have drastic long-term effects on the country’s economy.
The textile markets of the UK have also been gravely affected. The workings of textile mills have been halted, and there has been an overall decline for the garment businesses of the United Kingdom. Nations such as Germany and Japan that are a part of the worldwide wholesale textile & apparel market have also incurred losses.
As we can tell, the situation is dire for most textile and apparel businesses in most countries. The far-reaching ripples of the virus have made many organizations take a hard look inwards and reassess the viability of their operations, business models, and growth strategies.
According to industry experts, global clothing and textile industries need to reboot completely if they are to survive and sustain past the ongoing pandemic. To do so, they have to take some drastic steps like switching to a demand-driven calendar, embracing ‘smartification’ and redistribute margins in a different fashion. That may also mean shortening the fashion calendar from 52 weeks to 40 weeks, for example.
When it comes to the survival of textile industries in the new normal, some drastic reality checks and creative and innovative new solutions need to be undertaken by all.