Vietnam textiles top $36 billion; Vinatex profit outpaces plan

By Tom Whitfield

Vietnam’s textile and garment export turnover exceeded $36 billion over the past nine months, up 3.3% from the same period in 2025. The headline is healthy. The profit data is better, although not uniformly so.

Industry Deputy Director Pham Van Quan at the Ministry of Industry and Trade said: “Businesses should proactively build supply risk maps, diversify products, markets, and customers; increase the proportion of domestic purchases when meeting quality, price, and delivery requirements.”

Vinatex reported consolidated revenue above VND 15,500 billion, equal to 72.3% of its annual plan and 6.8% above the comparable period. Consolidated pre-tax profit reached VND 1,470 billion, or 106.5% of plan, and rose 40.7% year on year.

For the parent company, revenue reached VND 1,598 billion, 57.1% of the annual plan. Pre-tax profit reached VND 336.6 billion, 129.5% of plan and 218.7% above the prior-year period, according to General Director Cao Huu Hieu.

Group-level margins conceal divergent units. Revenue continues to rise, but profit margins have been falling under pressure from unit prices, costs and production-management efficiency, particularly on difficult, small-scale orders. In the remaining months of the year, units must track market changes and adjust operations to protect efficiency and exports.

Yarn remained the clear bright spot, with revenue of VND 6,661 billion and profit above VND 381.8 billion. All 12 yarn units improved efficiency and posted positive profits.

Garments remained the group’s largest profit contributor. Revenue reached VND 5,853 billion, pre-tax profit VND 679.2 billion and the pre-tax margin 11.6%, above the 10% annual target.

What does this change for brands and suppliers?

Buyers now assess more than fast delivery and competitive production cost. International customers also impose high standards for product quality, social responsibility and sustainability, so new capacity must clear those tests before it becomes a credible sourcing option.

For brands, new Vietnamese capacity offers potential, not proof. It becomes useful when it lowers total landed cost without shifting compliance or execution risk to the buyer. Nothing in the figures establishes that outcome.

Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association, said companies must expand scale and technology while improving their capacity to join global value chains. He called for factory infrastructure that meets international standards and automation that lowers costs and raises labor productivity.

His agenda also includes stronger raw-material and accessory supply chains, industrial zones and clusters, and a gradual export shift from contract manufacturing. For FOB operations, suppliers buy raw materials, manufacture and sell finished goods; for ODM, they also design those goods.

No timetable or capital budget accompanies that shift; the allocation of factory-upgrade costs remains unspecified.

Vinatex’s operational agenda has three elements:

• Expand weaving, dyeing and raw-material capacity to complete the domestic supply chain and strengthen sourcing self-reliance.
• Modernize equipment, apply automation and advanced technology to lift productivity, develop products and reach higher-value market segments.
• Invest in digital management, connected data and operational optimization.

The textiles and garments sector employs 1.86 million workers across more than 14,300 enterprises. It remains a central export employer, making supplier policy a labor issue as well as a cost issue.

Vietnam projected 2025 textile and garment export turnover at nearly $46.2 billion, 6% above 2024, with a trade surplus above $20.7 billion. The country expected to remain among the three largest exporters, with a 52% domestic value-added ratio for exported products.

Government policy now aims to shift growth from order volume toward productivity, technology and value added in Vietnam. The Ministry will coordinate with localities, associations and businesses on supplier capacity, supply-chain links, technology, workforce training and market information.

Businesses must also cooperate with mechanical, electronics and digital-technology companies to master more equipment, components and production methods, broadening the qualification work required from suppliers.

For the rest of the year, the relevant test is whether funded factories can turn domestic supply investment into compliant, repeatable output and protect margins as volume grows. The market is expanding; better economics remain conditional on execution.