Rapid-fire orders coming to garment companies

The year 2010 will end only in two weeks, but garment companies have reported that they have had enough jobs to do until the third quarter of 2011.

Vietnamese garment companies have become choosy when accepting orders from foreign partners. As orders are coming in like rapid-fire, export prices have increased by 10-15 percent in comparison with the export prices earlier in 2010.

Orders plentiful

According to Tuoi Tre newspaper, by early December 2010, Saigon 3 Garment Company had signed the contracts on exporting garment products by June 2011. The total value of the signed contracts is $50 million under which the company will export five million jean products to Japan. The number of orders and the value of contracts have increased by 20 percent in comparison with the first two quarters of 2010.

“Foreign importers came to place orders very early. They want to see the contracts to be wrapped up soon in order to set up business plans for the next year,” said Kim Hong, a senior executive of the company.

Le Thi Kim Thanh, Deputy General Director of Phuong Dong Garment Company, said the company has signed contracts to export five million products by May 2011. “Orders are plentiful this year, therefore we have to consider our capacity before accepting orders,” Thanh said.

Other big garment companies, such as Viet Tien, Nha Be, Phong Phu, Gia Dinh, Thanh Cong, Thang Loi and Viet Thang, have also reported that the number of orders for 2011 has increased by no less than 15 percent. “We are ready for the new production sale. The production will start right after the foreign partners approve the designs,” said Phan Van Kiet, Deputy General Director of Viet Tien Garment Company.

Even private enterprises also do not worry about job shortage in 2011. “Orders are in plentiful, only workers are lacking,” said Nguyen Thi My Linh, Director of Minh Chau Garment Company.

Linh said her company has signed contracts to make 200,000 products which can bring jobs for 200 workers of the enterprise. The enterprises with 500-2000 workers have signed contracts on exporting products until the end of the second quarter of 2011.

Garment companies becoming more self-confident

Experts say that Vietnamese exporters will soon receive orders for 2011, because now foreign importers tend to shift to place orders with Vietnamese instead of Chinese enterprises. “They believe in the skills and quality of Vietnam-made products, while the prices are reasonable for the products with international standards,” said Diep Thanh Kiet, Deputy Chair of the HCM City Garment, Textile and Embroidery Association.

The noteworthy thing is that the value of Vietnamese products has been increasing rapidly. According to Kim Hong, her company exported $65 million worth of products in 2010, of which imported materials are only worth $25 million , or 40 percent of export turnover.

The value of imported materials used by Saigon 3 has decreased by $10-15 million, meaning that the value the enterprise can earn has been increasing, because the company has been using more domestically sourced materials.

According to Vu Duc Giang, Chair of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, the total garment export turnover in 2010 is expected to reach $11 billion, of which enterprises can pocket $4.5 billion after they pay for imported materials. – Vietnamnet

Tags: Vietnam garment exports, Vietnam Garment industry