According to a report compiled by the Japan Spinners’ Association on the basis of Ministry of Finance trade statistics, the nation’s imports of cotton yarn and cotton fabrics decreased in 2018.
Cotton yarn imports in 2018 decreased by 3.9% from the previous year to 263,380 bales. (1 bale = 181.436 kg) Of this, carded yarn fell 10.9% to 135,209 bales, whereas combed yarn rose by 4.7% to 128,171 bales. These figures indicate that domestically made textile goods for the high-class zone increased, while products made with general-purpose yarns decreased.
Imports from Indonesia (the largest supplier) declined by 8.6% to 90,388 bales. Meanwhile, imports from Pakistan increased by 3.9% to 60,123 bales, thanks to vigorous imports including yarns for application in towels. Imports from India also grew by 8.2% to 43,973 bales, as the popularity of Indian yarn continued to be firm centering on the combed type.
Imports of blended yarn rose by 8.2% to 36,517 bales. Blended yarn imports have been recovering from a low level of 24,171 bales in 2015.
2018 imports of cotton fabrics decreased by 1.9% compared to 2017 to 250.35 million square meters (MSM). While imports from China (the main supplier) declined by 5.9% to 111.82 MSM, those from Indonesia increased by 3.7% to 57.50 MSM, as well as from Pakistan by 9.5% to 48.48 MSM. Imports also increased from India and Malaysia, indicating a shift from China to other countries in Asia.
Imports of polyester/cotton blended (P/C) fabrics grew by 8.4% to 92.31 MSM. Imports from Indonesia (the largest supplier) climbed 15.3% to 51.03 MSM, along with those from Thailand by 6.2% to 17.18 MSM. Meanwhile, imports from China decreased by 1.2% to 20.07 MSM. In applications such as uniforms for which the domestic market is growing, supplies are shifting from China to Southeast Asia.