Shipments of yarn machinery to the textile industry in China plunged in 2013 and at the same time, shipments to the industry in Vietnam soared. These trends reflected an apparent shift in the sourcing of textiles and clothing from China to other countries in Asia, and Vietnam in particular, according to a new report from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence – World markets for textile machinery: part 1— yarn manufacture.

The fall in shipments to the industry in China reflected a shift in sourcing away from the country, and extended to short staple spindles, long staple spindles, open-end rotors and double heater false twist draw texturing spindles.

In the case of open-end rotors, the fall in shipments to the industry in China accounted for the entire decline in global shipments as shipments to the industries in several other countries rose strongly.

Shipments to the industry in Vietnam soared at a quadruple digit rate. And in the case of short staple spindles and double heater false-twist spindles, shipments to the industry in Vietnam surged at triple digit rates.

China continued to be, by far, the world’s largest investor in textile yarn machinery in 2013 and it remained the world’s largest producer and exporter of textiles and clothing.

China’s share of world textile and clothing exports during the year was up from 36.1% to 37.1% as exports grew by 11.3%. In clothing alone, China’s share was up from 37.8% to 38.6% as exports rose by 11.2%.

However, the industry faces several challenges and clothing export growth is expected to slow to around 8% in 2014 and could slow further in future years. Among these challenges are rising costs and increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

Vietnamese clothing exports, on the other hand, increased by 19.3% in 2013, and during the first quarter of 2014 they were up by over 20% compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

But with Vietnam entering into number of trade agreement soon, its clothing industry likely to benefit further. It also hopes to benefit from a diversion of orders from Bangladesh and Cambodia where safety or unreliability issues are undermining competitiveness as well as from China.

Vietnamese exports are expected to continue to rise at a healthy rate over the coming years. The Vietnamese government expects to achieve more than double by 2025.