China - Textile and Apparel Export to Europe down 21.4 pct in July

Stepping into H2 2012, the economic situation in the EU further deteriorated. The European Commission announced July’s CPI at -20.3 for EU, lower than June’s -19.7, and -21.6 for the Eurozone, down from June’s -19.8.

In the meantime, the unemployment rate continued to increase. In June, the unemployment rate of EU-27 hit 10.4 percent, while that of the Eurozone arrived at 11.2 percent, both up 0.1 percentage points from May.

In July, China’s textile and apparel export to EU amounted to $5.5 billion, down 21.4 percent year on year, the second largest decline next to Februry’s so far in 2012. From January to July, the total export of textiles and apparels reached $26.81 billion, down 14.3 percent from the same period last year; hereinto, that to EU-15 dropped by 15.3 percent.

Occupying 20 percent of China’s total textile and apparel export, EU is understood to be the largest destination for China-origin textiles and apparels. In January-July, the decline of accumulated textile and apparel export in China was mainly dragged by the EU, while the rest markets all gave a boost.