Reuters reported on November 9 that in the first half of this year, the outbreak of the new coronavirus “Delta” variant in Vietnam and China caused production to slow down or suspend production for several weeks. , major apparel and footwear companies are moving production closer to European and American stores, at the same time as massive shipping congestion in China is driving up costs and forcing companies to rethink their global supply chains and low-cost manufacturing hubs in Asia .
A typical example is Spanish fashion retailer Mango. The company told Reuters on the 5th that it had “accelerated” its growth in countries such as Turkey, Morocco, and Portugal. Locally produced processes. In 2019, the company’s products mainly came from China and Vietnam. Mango told Reuters it would “significantly” expand the number of locally made products in Europe in 2022. Similarly, US footwear retailer Steve Madden said on Wednesday that it has withdrawn production from Vietnam and transferred 50% of its footwear production from China to Brazil and Mexico. Crocs, a rubber clog manufacturer, said last month that it would transfer production to Indonesia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries. Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic, Morocco, Turkey and other countries have also attracted new interest from clothing and footwear manufacturers, but China still produces most of the clothing for European and American clothing chains. “We are seeing significant growth in freight and trucking operations in former Soviet republics such as Hungary and Romania,” said Barry Conlon, CEO of Overhaul, a supply chain risk management company.
Data from the Union of Chambers Clothing and Garment Council (Union of Chambers Clothing and Garment Council) show that Turkey’s clothing exports are expected to reach a record high of US$20 billion this year, driven by a surge in EU orders. Total exports in 2020 were US$17 billion. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, exports of textiles, leather and footwear reached DM 739.56 million (USD 436.65 million) in the first half of 2021, higher than in all of 2020. Professor Muris Pozderac, secretary of the BiH Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear Association, said: “The EU is our most important trading partner, and many EU companies are looking for new suppliers and new supply chains in the Balkan market.” To be sure, many The company remains heavily dependent on Vietnam. Recent production disruptions in Vietnam have caused serious disruption. Vietnam’s government said in October that garment exports would fall short of targets this year, falling short of $5 billion in the worst-case scenario, due to the impact of coronavirus restrictions and worker shortages.
