The epidemic has broken out on a large scale around the world, and foreign traders around the world have been frequently implicated. Overseas markets have entered a cold winter, and it is not only Chinese traders who are frozen, but also large and small suppliers. The epidemic has caused traders to have concerns about receiving goods from overseas. Orders are becoming more cautious, and textile fabric factories are shipping goods at cabbage prices to remove inventory…
2020 2 On March 19, the foreign trade order area of Guangzhou’s largest clothing wholesale city was delayed in opening. (IC Photo/Picture)
When I was chatting with an Italian customer, the other party no longer responded to emails. He might be sick, or even It’s hospitalization. In a Keqiao Textile exchange group, more fabric factories in Keqiao have shipped goods at “cabbage prices” to remove inventory. The drop in fabric prices is even greater than the drop in raw materials. At present, the only way for the company to survive is to change the production of protective clothing. “I just want to seize this half-year time, hoping to wait until normal demand recovers.”
Within two weeks, clothing export trader Yu Yang’s orders experienced a huge change from “Push” to “Cancel” Turn. Yu Yang’s clothing trading company is located in Hefei, Anhui, but his suppliers are spread across the country.
In mid-February 2020, foreign order reminders were tight. A sock supplier in Zhejiang contacted by Yu Yang had to find ways to rush delivery. A series of production processes were completed by the collaboration of multiple villages. In order to avoid contact, the two parties can only agree to hand over at the junction of the village.
After half a month of continuous “meetings”, this batch of goods was finally produced. Unexpectedly, the customer suddenly requested to postpone the shipment.
Chinese suppliers, who have just breathed a sigh of relief, are being forced to face the pressure from overseas epidemics. Since mid-March, COVID-19 has swept across the world. Chain stores and shopping malls in more and more countries have chosen to close their doors. People have also consciously chosen to isolate themselves at home, and the market’s consumption power has plummeted.
Data from the General Administration of Customs of China show that the products with the largest export trade volume from January to February 2020 were organic chemicals, textiles, electrical machinery, appliances, electrical parts and clothing, Attachment, but fell by 16.5%, 18.6%, 7.8%, and 18.7% year-on-year.
Yu Yang has personally experienced that in today’s era of globalization, China, as the world’s factory, is as hot and cold as the world.
Traders: Be cautious in accepting overseas orders
Yu Yang has been engaged in garment foreign trade for 20 years. In his impression, the last time difficulties in foreign trade exports occurred in 2008, “but it is still not as obvious as this year.” Yu Yang’s clothing products are mainly sold to the United States, and some are exported to European countries.
“In March, the situation changed.” Yu Yang said that he finally caught up with the construction period delayed by the epidemic and sent a batch of goods to Spain as scheduled in March, but the goods arrived in Spain Later, the customer called to tell him that there was no sales revenue due to the store closure, and he hoped to negotiate for installment payment.
Yu Yang expressed his understanding that the situation in the United States is similar – clothing chain stores located in large shopping malls are basically closed, and only large supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco are open at fixed times. Open for business.
According to the current demand of American customers, orders from clothing chain stores are basically canceled or suspended. Only large supermarkets may need orders, but they will not place orders as originally planned. “For example, before (Ordered) 100,000 pieces, and now they will select the required 5,000 pieces from the products.” Most of these products that are still selling are daily necessities, such as underwear, underwear, etc.
Yu Yang said that not only domestic textile and clothing companies have experienced reduced orders, but also companies that produce packaging cartons, plastic bags and hangers will also have a large number of orders canceled or suspended.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the new coronavirus pneumonia had constituted a “global epidemic.” Countries severely affected by the epidemic have to ask their people to reduce social interactions and outdoor activities. Retail stores in all walks of life have closed their doors, and global business activities have entered a cold winter.
“Air freight space is tight and prices have risen sharply.” Yu Yang said that logistics has also squeezed his profits. A reporter from Southern Weekend confirmed to an international logistics company in Shanghai that air transport currently mainly transports protective materials, and some passenger planes have also been temporarily converted into cargo planes. “The freight rate of 30 yuan/kg has increased to 60-80 yuan/kg.”
Today, shipping has become the main mode of transportation for foreign trade exports, but it is not as efficient as in the past. The U.S. customers Yu Yang serves are located in Los Angeles, New York and Texas. A freight forwarder in Los Angeles told Yu Yang that there are currently restrictions on the working hours of the Los Angeles port, and the pace of unloading, customs clearance, delivery and other processes has slowed down. “For example, it could be done in one day. We used to process 500,000 cabinets, but now we can only process 300,000.”
After March 16, more than 30 countries adopted border control and epidemic prevention measures, and some ports stopped cargo services.
After enduring the torture of order cancellations for half a month, Yu Yang understood the current situation clearly-the haze of the epidemic has not dissipated, but has shrouded the world instead, and the economic impact has also expanded from domestic to worldwide.
Now, Yu Yang handles customer orders very carefully. First of all, for orders that are about to be shipped, you must make sure that the other party can accept them before ordering a ship to avoid unnecessary losses; secondly,�Government approval. When the domestic epidemic broke out before, the government opened a green channel for clothing manufacturers, but this channel has now been closed. Applying through normal channels will take at least one year. In addition, protective clothing has high product quality requirements, and protective clothing used for export cannot be any different.
For more foreign trade companies, there is only one word left: “endurance”.
In a recent meeting at the factory, ceramics merchant Lin Kai told his employees: “You don’t have to think about getting rich this year. We will live a peaceful year this year. This year’s wages will remain the same. Just like last year, we will raise wages next year. Let’s do it until August first. Even if I take out a loan, I will still pay you wages.”
What pleased him was that there was only one employee in the end. Resigned due to dissatisfaction with salary.
A Wenzhou businessman at Guangzhou Zhongda Cloth Market has never seen such a cold sales season. 100% of his products are exported to Africa. The fabrics are rich in color and the clothes are mostly covered with sequins, so they are not suitable for domestic sales. “What else can I do? Just get through it.”
On the last day of March, Yu Yang posted a message on WeChat Moments: The world’s factory. Without the world, how can the factory exist?
<br
