A used clothing export company named Beiao Garment Trading in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, operates a 6,000-square-meter factory near Baiyun Airport, mainly exporting second-hand clothing, shoes, and bags to markets in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The company has also posted procurement demand for blankets and fashionable women's blazer-style jackets. This activity on both the supply and demand sides reflects the current competitive landscape of the used clothing recycling industry.

Key Points

  • Guangzhou Beiao Garment Trading Co., Ltd. was founded in 2010 and exports second-hand clothes, shoes, and bags to Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
  • The proportion of black waste material after used clothing sorting is about 20% to 30% of raw materials, and disposal costs have become a key concern for factories.
  • Industry orders are usually sluggish from June to September, and market supply returns to normal from October.

On the information-matching level, one platform claims to connect more than 80,000 enterprises nationwide and gather 190,000 supply and demand listings, covering integrated services for used clothing recycling, processing, and sales. The platform features both professional export companies offering one-stop services including raw material selection, sorting, packaging, loading and unloading, transportation, and customs clearance, as well as enterprises that buy large quantities of plush toys, used clothes, shoes, and handbags.

RDF Burnable Bars Enter the Industry's View

After sorting raw materials, sorting factories usually generate 20% to 30% black waste material. In recent years, the concept of RDF burnable bars (derived fuel) has gradually drawn attention in the used clothing recycling industry. How to handle this black waste and control costs has become one of the key issues in factory operations.

Off-Season and Peak Season, and the Foreign Trade Environment

Used clothing recycling orders usually remain sluggish from June through September, and from October the market is no longer short of goods. Feedback from multiple used clothing recycling factories indicates that the shortage from June to September affected the supply of second-hand winter clothing, summer clothing, and bags.

In terms of foreign trade settlement, because countries generally use US dollars to exchange for local currency settlement, the exchange rate fluctuations brought by the Federal Reserve's continued interest rate hikes have had a significant impact on the foreign trade industry, and used clothing exports are also under pressure. If the RMB weakens against the US dollar, it is not necessarily entirely unfavorable for exporters, but the specific depreciation magnitude of each destination country's currency directly affects the purchasing capacity of local buyers.

Factory Sorting Models and Polarization

Under competitive pressure in the industry, used clothing sorting factories show clear polarization. Some factories aim simply to survive, while others hope to seize the opportunity to widen the gap. As profit margins come under pressure, the efficiency of sorting models and cost control have become the dividing line.

From the deployment of recycling bins—whether the green bins in street properties or the panda bins on university campuses—to customs clearance and transportation by professional export factories, the used clothing industry chain is attracting more participants. Growing environmental awareness and the spread of the circular economy concept provide a social foundation for the industry's continued growth, but fluctuations in supply, waste disposal costs, and exchange rate risks remain realities that operators must face.

(This article is based on a comprehensive review of industry supply and demand information and market feedback)

Source: Jiuyifu.com · Originally published on 2013-01-22