Between January and March 2023, the balance between ‘good’ and ‘poor’ order intake remained stable across all areas. Since November 2021, the balance for order intake has been rapidly declining. According to the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), it is still negative, although the rate of decrease has been decreasing and stopped in March 2023.
According to the 19th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), which was conducted in the second part of March 2023, estimates for order intake globally in six months have improved steadily and have now reached 0 percentage points (pp).
The development of both the existing and upcoming order intake is consistent with the business environment and expectations. Order intake right now is primarily subpar. assuming that there is little demand. However, because there have been relatively few order cancellations and because inventory levels have decreased, businesses anticipate an increase in order intake in the second half of 2023. In other words, businesses worldwide anticipate a gradual return to a more normal (stable) business environment.
It may be a sign that the current bad business cycle is about to finish if the decline in order intake slows down. However, there are significant uncertainty regarding when a bad business trend will turn around, and these uncertainties vary by area. The downward trend was flattening in the three Asian regions by the end of 2022, but it started to decline once more in March 2023. The indicator in Europe (including Turkey) also follows a continuous downward slope and no signs of improvement.
The index is in positive territory in March 2023 because to the significant volatility observed in Africa, but no discernible trend can be deduced from the data. Since the beginning of the survey, order intake in the Americas has been better than that seen in the rest of the world. However, since mid-2022, the situation in North and Central America has been steadily becoming worse, and it has already reached 0 pp. At the end of 2022, South American order intake fell into the negative region, but it quickly recovered to zero percent in March 2023.
In all value chain segments, this indicator is negative. Most people noted a downward trend since the year’s beginning. The predicament is worse since makers of home textiles and spinners. Between September 2022 and January 2023, Spinners saw an increase in order intake, but it did not sustain. In March 2023, they noted a decline in order intake. Home textile manufacturers kept going in the same direction before a sudden decline occurred in January 2023. This section is like riding a roller coaster.
Many consumers made home improvements during the pandemic’s initial phase, which was characterised by lockdowns and numerous limitations on mobility and travel. With the removal of numerous limitations during the second phase of the epidemic, consumer spending began to return to the goods and services used prior to the pandemic
