Textile, apparel firms hit by high inventories

Textile and apparel companies are still struggling with the continuous hike in inventories even after two years of decreasing stock.

As of Oct 31, 81 listed textile and apparel enterprises have announced inventory figures for the first three quarters, which totaled 76.8 billion yuan ($12.5 billion), registering a year-on-year growth of 6 percent.

In the first three quarters, 14 out of 81 listed companies had stock worth more than 1 billion yuan.

As many as 57 companies of the 81 companies have witnessed an increase in stock compared to the same period a year earlier, according to incomplete statistics from the Securities Daily newspaper.

Some industry analysts contribute the situation to ongoing sluggish domestic demand.

Since domestic textile and apparel enterprises are highly dependent on exports, the growth in exports will be crucial to lowering high inventories, an industry researcher with the Shenzhen-based CIC Industry Research Center was quoted as saying.