Faced with a complex and changeable external environment, increasing uncertainties, and more internal difficulties and challenges in 2025, the situation is severe. Coupled with the "after effects" of the sharp rise in the price of imported flax raw materials in the first three quarters of 2024 and the drastic decline in the fourth quarter, which triggered severe fluctuations in industry operation, the flax textile industry, as a niche and unique historical classic industry, has been moving forward under pressure. Although the export amount of flax textile products and the total profit of large-scale industrial enterprises decreased by 14.5% and 21.5% respectively in 2025 compared to 2024, the industry overcame various unfavorable factors brought about by market fluctuations. Despite the sharp decline in foreign sales orders, the domestic sales market experienced explosive growth, becoming a major highlight of industry development. The export quantity of major products increased compared to the previous year. The number of enterprises, asset size, current assets, the proportion of three fees, the turnover rate of finished products, and the proportion of two golden ( accounts receivable and inventory) indicators showed an improvement in economic and efficiency indicators, fully demonstrating the rigidity and resilience of the flax textile industry to move upward.

First, The Basic Situation of the Operation of the Flax Textile Industry in 2025

According to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of large-scale flax textile and dyeing and finishing enterprises steadily increased from 295 in December 2024 to 327 in December 2025. The total assets and the total amount of current assets increased by 5.71% and 6.82% respectively compared to 2024. The total profit of large-scale flax textile and dyeing and finishing enterprises achieved 1156.09 million yuan in 2025, a decrease of 21.53% compared to 2024. The main reason for this is that after the sharp decline in raw material prices at the end of 2024, it caused huge losses to production enterprises. In the first half of 2025, the whole industry was in a state of loss and recovery. After more than half a year of digestion and the explosive growth of the domestic sales market, the industry's profit level has been quickly restored, and a profit was achieved in August

In addition, the main efficiency indicators such as the proportion of three expenses, the turnover rate of finished products, and the proportion of two golden ( accounts receivable and inventory) have all improved compared to 2024. Among them, the proportion of three expenses is 4.89%, which is 0.1 percentage points less than 2024, indicating that the operational efficiency of enterprises has improved, and at the same time, it reflects the improvement in the management level of enterprises; the proportion of two golden is 42.57%, which is 6.89 percentage points less than 2024, reflecting the improvement in the efficiency of capital turnover of enterprises and the reduction in operational risk; the turnover rate of finished products is 6.85, which is 0.86 higher than 2024, indicating that the supply chain and sales channels of enterprises are smooth, and the market demand is active, which also indirectly confirms the vigorous domestic market in 2025. The reason why the industry enterprises still have highlights under the complex situation of increasing internal and external pressure and challenges is attributed to the unique performance of the linen products, which brings advantages that can better meet the needs of consumption upgrading, the spatial advantage of the domestic ultra-large consumer market, the complete industrial chain advantage of the domestic linen industry, and the improvement of the equipment technology and process level of enterprises and the new advantages of production and trade brought by scientific and technological innovation. Of course, it also can't be separated from the Linen Industry Association's full use of various platforms to publicize and promote the unique natural green and healthy attributes of linen products and the sense of fashion endowed by science and technology.

Second, the analysis of the import and export of the linen industry in 2025

At present, the linen industry has a wide variety of categories (flax, hemp, yellow hemp, ramie, etc.), small volume and the pattern of "two ends outside" has not yet been fundamentally reversed, the dependence on foreign raw materials is still very high, especially the import of flax raw materials. According to the statistical data of the General Administration of Customs of China, China's flax fiber import in 2025 totaled 263,800 tons, setting a new high in the past 10 years, an increase of 35.34% compared to 2024, of which the imported twisted flax was 175,900 tons, an increase of 88.07% compared to 2024; the import of flax short fiber was 86,100 tons, a decrease of 12.87% compared to 2024. In terms of exports, the export value of hemp textile products including fibers, yarns, fabrics and products in 2025 decreased by 15.23% year-on-year, but the export value of hemp textile products to the United States increased slightly by 1.72% year-on-year. In 2025, the proportion of flax products (including blended products) in the export amount of hemp textile products was 92.80%, among which the amount proportion of flax finished products (including blended products) was 12.72%, while the proportions in 2024 were 93.55% and 15.21%, respectively. By quantity statistics, the exports of flax yarn and pure flax fabric in 2025 were 1.98 million tons and 157.7053 million meters, respectively, an increase of 10.87% and 6.61% year-on-year.

The specific analysis of the import and export of hemp textile products in 2025 is as follows.

(I) The import situation of the main raw materials for hemp spinning

1. The import situation of flax fibers

Despite the significant increase in the planting area of flax in China in recent two years, China's flax fiber still mainly relies on imports, showing a stable upward trend, accounting for more than 80% of the import volume of hemp fibers (flax, ramie, linen, and yellow hemp). Since 2019, except for the two special years of 2020 and 2024, the import volume has exceeded 2 million tons in other years, and it reached the highest record of 263,800 tons in 2025. In the imported flax fibers, the number of broken flax and second coarse flax compared (measured by the proportion of broken flax in the total of the two) decreased from 71.06% in 2021 to the lowest proportion of 48.61% in 2024, and rebounded to 67.15% in 2025, but it is still 3.91 percentage points lower than in 2021.

The above proportion changes are consistent with the market performance of increasing hemp blended/interwoven fabrics brought about by the improvement of flax textile equipment, technology, and process level.

(1) The import situation of flax fibers by country

According to the statistical data of the General Administration of Customs of China, the countries of origin for China's flax broken fiber imports in 2025 were France, Egypt, Belgium, Russia, the Netherlands, Belarus, Latvia, India, and the United Kingdom, an increase of 2 countries from 2024, among which France, Egypt, Belgium, Russia, and the Netherlands were the top five countries of origin for China's flax imports, accounting for more than 99% of the total quantity, and each country's proportion had ups and downs.

(2) Flax fiber import price

According to the average price statistical caliber, in 2025, the prices of scutched flax imported by China from the top five major countries were ranked from high to low as Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Russia, and Egypt. For tow, the ranking was Belgium, France, Belarus, Russia, and Egypt.

According to the monthly price statistical caliber of flax fiber imported from France, the price of European flax fluctuated sharply in 2024. The price of scutched flax imported by China from France soared month by month from $5.61 per kilogram in January 2023 to $10.34 per kilogram in June 2024. After that, it dropped sharply for 9 consecutive months to $3.88 per kilogram in March 2025. Subsequently, it started to rebound in April and rose month by month to $6.80 per kilogram in December. Correspondingly, the monthly price fluctuation trend of semi - scutched flax imported by China from France was basically the same as that of scutched flax; the same consistency was also reflected in the monthly price fluctuation trends of scutched flax and semi - scutched flax imported from Egypt.

In 2023, European flax had a poor harvest, with the raw material output decreasing significantly by nearly 50%. As can be seen from Figure 8, which shows the price changes of scutched flax imported by China from France from 2023 to 2025, the price of scutched flax gradually increased from $5.61 per kilogram in January 2023 and reached the highest price of $10.34 per kilogram after 17 months. It started to peak and decline in the second half of 2024 and reached the lowest price of $3.88 per kilogram in March 2025, a decrease of $6.46 per kilogram, which was the lowest point in recent years. With the explosive growth of the domestic market, the demand for raw materials also increased rapidly, driving the rapid recovery of flax prices. By the end of the year, the price of scutched flax rebounded to the annual high of $6.80 per kilogram, an increase of $2.92, which was equivalent to the price in July 2023. The 18 - month period from the highest price to the lowest price and then back to the middle price was exactly the golden period when European flax had a good harvest in 2024 and the flax planting area reached a new high in 2025. Considering that in 2025, even though the domestic flax planting area doubled, the import volume of flax fiber in China still reached a record high. Currently, a situation of both strong supply and demand in the global flax market, with China as the main market, is emerging.

2. Industrial hemp fiber import situation

According to the customs statistical data of China, in 2025, China imported 44,370 tons of hemp fiber, a decrease of 52.16% from 2024, and returned to the level of a slight increase of 2.59% compared to 2023. The main importing countries of hemp include France, Russia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Belgium, among which the import quantities from France and Belgium accounted for 74.29% and 3.26% of the total, respectively, compared to 63.66% and 19.73% in 2024. The sharp decline in the import quantity of hemp is related to the significant increase in the planting area of hemp in Northeast China in 2024 and the harvest of flax in Europe in 2024.

3. Import situation of jute fiber and yarn

China's jute fiber mainly relies on imports, with the main importing country being Bangladesh, and a small amount from the Philippines, Malaysia, and India. In 2025, China imported 116,540 tons of jute fiber, a decrease of 59.34% and 29.97% compared to 2024 and 2023, respectively, of which 116,300 tons were imported from Bangladesh, accounting for 97.1% of the total import quantity.

In 2025, China imported 96,987 tons of jute yarn, a decrease of 12.14% compared to 2024, and the import quantity from Bangladesh accounted for 99.8%. The import quantity of jute fabric was 14.14 million meters, an increase of 5.05% compared to 2024, and the import quantity from Bangladesh accounted for 99.69%.

(II) Export situation of hemp textile products

1. Export country and product structure

The exported hemp textile products include fibers, yarns, fabrics, and products, among which the amount of linen textiles (including blended) accounts for 81.00%, and the amount of linen finished products (including blended) accounts for 11.8%. According to the statistical caliber of quantity, the exports of linen yarn, pure linen fabric, and linen blended fabric in 2025 were 19,800 tons, 157,705,000 meters, and 215,192,000 meters, respectively, an increase of 10.88%, 6.61%, and a decrease of 18.92% compared to 2024. In 2025, China's export amount of hemp textile products was $2.018 billion, a decrease of 15.23% compared to 2024.

(1) Export country

In 2025, China's export trade partners for hemp textile products included 193 countries and regions, three less than in 2024. Export rankings in terms of US dollars were Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, the United States, India, Italy, Turkey, Indonesia, Spain, and South Korea, accounting for 72.33% collectively. The top 20 and 30 countries accounted for 86.94% and 93.78% respectively; in 2024, the top 10 countries in terms of US dollars were Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, the United States, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Brazil, accounting for 70.23% collectively. The top 20 and 30 countries accounted for 87.26% and 94.18% respectively. This shows that although China's hemp textile product export market is diversified, the market concentration is relatively high.

(2) Export product structure

In 2025, the proportions of hemp textile products exported by China to the top three countries were: 97.05% and 2.95% for hemp fabrics and yarns (Bangladesh); 81.4% and 13.83% (Vietnam); 98.40% and 1.45% (Cambodia). This shows that Bangladesh and Cambodia are mainly engaged in garment processing, while Vietnam, in addition to the garment processing industry, also has a certain scale of the weaving industry.

(3) Export product structure to the United States

In 2025, China's exports of hemp textile products to the United States increased slightly by 1.75% compared to 2024, with hemp fabrics accounting for 33.19% and hemp finished products accounting for 66.81%. In the face of such a changeable US tariff policy, the growth of exports to the United States still reflects the rigid demand for hemp textile products in the US market to some extent.

2. Other hemp textile product exports

According to China's General Administration of Customs statistical data, in 2025, in addition to the exports of linen textile products accounting for more than 80% of the export amount, there were also changes in the exports of industrial hemp, ramie, and yellow flax textile products.

(1) Ramie textile products

The hemp fiber is a unique bast fiber plant fiber in China. In 2025, the exports of hemp yarn, pure hemp fabric and hemp blended fabric were 330.3 tons, 7.8657 million meters and 5.5966 million meters, respectively, an increase of 17.16%, 4.03% and 29.20% over 2024, respectively, and the export performance was good. Among them, the main export countries of hemp yarn are South Korea, Japan, Italy, Cambodia, Romania, etc.; the main export countries of hemp fabric are South Korea, Turkey, the Netherlands, Spain, Togo, Italy, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.

(2) Hemp Textiles

In 2025, the export of hemp yarn and fabric was 347.5 tons and 2.0984 million meters respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 30.4% and 34.16% compared with 2024. On the one hand, this was related to the relatively high base in 2024, and it was also related to the lukewarm international market demand for hemp products. Among them, hemp yarn was mainly exported to countries with strong weaving capabilities such as Vietnam, India, South Korea, Italy, Japan, and Turkey. Hemp fabric was mainly exported to countries with strong garment processing capabilities such as Cambodia, Germany, Vietnam, Japan, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

(3) Yellow hemp yarn and fabric

In 2025, China's exports of yellow hemp yarn and fabric were 3203.9 tons and 14.446 million meters, respectively, a decrease of 2.00% and an increase of 23.36% over 2024. The main countries of export for yellow hemp yarn and fabric. 3. Export situation of hemp products

The main exported hemp products in China's hemp textile products are hemp bedding, hemp tableware, wash and kitchen utensils and hemp decorative items. In 2025, the export quantity of China's hemp products was 13691.3 tons, a decrease of 5.58% over 2024. Among them, hemp bedding decreased slightly by 1.44% over 2024, hemp tableware, wash and kitchen utensils decreased by 36.93%, and hemp decorative items increased significantly by 74.82%. With the increasing understanding of the comfortable, healthy and green excellent characteristics of hemp products, more and more consumers choose hemp decorative items.

Third, Outlook for the hemp textile industry in 2026

Compared to the "severe shocks" in 2024 and the "recovery and healing" in 2025, the linen industry in 2026 is in a stable and improving trend. The supply of raw materials is relatively stable but prices are high, the domestic market is still strong, and the foreign market is affected by the high and fluctuating prices, with many uncertain factors.

From the perspective of industrial development, 2026 is the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", which proposes to optimize and improve traditional industries, promote technological transformation and upgrading, develop intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing, and expand the supply of high-quality products such as light industry and textiles. This has set a direction for the development of the linen industry and also boosted confidence.

From the perspective of market potential, the content of the plan that proposes to boost consumption, deeply implement special actions to boost consumption, promote the expansion and upgrading of commodity consumption, develop green consumption, and actively promote green and low-carbon products has undoubtedly brought a strong market signal to linen products with built-in green, healthy, and fashionable genes.

Even though it still faces external unfavorable conditions such as the weakening of the world economic momentum, the continuous upgrading of trade frictions, the rising risk of geopolitical risks, the prominent contradiction between domestic supply and demand, and the weak market expectations, as well as the problem of relying on imports for the main raw material has not been solved, the linen industry has both the advantages of a niche classic characteristic industry and the advantages of products that can better meet people's consumption needs for comfort, green, fashion, and health. Its development is positive, optimistic, and upward.

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