The Turbulence in Bangladesh: A Temporary Advantage for Vietnam’s Textile Industry.

"The key difference between 2024 and 2023 is that the market has become more favorable after each quarter. The disruptive impacts of competing nations like Bangladesh and Myanmar have created a short-term advantage for the Vietnamese textile industry."

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This information was shared by Le Tien Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Group (Vinatex, UPCoM: VGT), at the Party Executive Committee Conference held last week.

According to a preliminary report on the business results for the first nine months of 2024, Vinatex estimated consolidated revenue of VND 13,036 billion, a nearly 1% increase compared to the same period last year, and pre-tax profit of VND 490 billion, an over 70% surge. With these results, the Group has achieved nearly 73% of its revenue target and more than 89% of its profit goal for the year.

“The market context remains challenging and unstable in 2024,” said Vinatex Chairman, Le Tien Truong. The only difference between 2024 and 2023 is that the market has become more favorable quarter by quarter.

In the first six months of 2024, the entire textile and garment industry only exported about 20 billion USD worth of goods. However, the industry benefited from the unstable situations in competing countries such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, which created short-term advantages for Vietnamese textile and garment exports.

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“Enterprises need to continue taking drastic actions, improve production capacity, and practice savings to ensure stable production and business operations, especially for material-producing enterprises that have been facing difficulties for the last 30 months,” emphasized Mr. Truong.

Vinatex targets the niche market with flame-retardant fabric

To achieve the export target of “44 billion USD in 2024, a 10% increase compared to 2023”, Mr. Truong noted in a recent article on the Vinatex website that “it heavily depends on the market signals in the fourth quarter of 2024.”

Based on his experience, Mr. Truong observed that long-term forecasts of six months to one year have been highly inaccurate since 2022. Therefore, the most significant challenge for the Vietnamese textile and garment industry is the unpredictability of the market.

“We may have some good months, but immediately after that, there will be one or two bad months,” said the leader of Vinatex. The market fluctuations since 2022 have taught the industry’s managers an important lesson: always make shorter-term forecasts, update them frequently, and make management decisions more quickly and flexibly to catch the waves of short-term growth in the global market.

Vinatex Chairman Le Tien Truong sharing at an event in May 2024

To achieve its annual plan, Vinatex and its member companies have implemented various solutions and strategies. One of these strategies is to venture into the niche market of flame-retardant fabric and apparel production to increase product value.

Accordingly, Vinatex has entered into a joint venture with the Coats Group to invest in flame-retardant fabric production. They are expediting the manufacturing process and expect to export the first orders to Indonesia, India, the Middle East, and the USA in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“For this cooperation, Vinatex sets a target of USD 2-2.5 million in revenue for 2024 and aims to double it annually in the first five years. The primary goal is to meet the requirements of the US market, and from there, it will be easier to enter the markets of the EU, Japan, South Korea, and other countries worldwide,” shared Mr. Truong.

The Manh