Now, Shan Fengmei’s factory compound is full of trucks again.
Before May, the factory compound was still deserted. Even earlier, Shan Fengmei He even worked alone in the factory. After a difficult period of time, everything gradually returned to its original industrial state.
Compared with last year, the total number of orders in the global market has not increased significantly, but the hot and cold conditions are more uneven. The sudden order seemed to leave the entire supply chain with no time to prepare. Some people are rejecting orders, and some people’s orders are being rejected.
Orders can’t be squeezed into the factory
Shan Fengmei is Zhejiang Tongxing Textile Technology Development Co., Ltd. The head of the company, in the past, 60% of the 5,000 tons of fabrics produced by his factory a year were purchased by European and American companies, and then processed into sofas or other products through other factories and shipped to European and American countries. In the first half of 2020, this proportion dropped to 30%. “Recently, such indirect export orders have started to move again.” Shan Fengmei said.
Teng Jinyu, founder of Hangzhou Baihao Cashmere Co., Ltd., has also been packed with orders in recent months. “It probably started getting busy around June.” Teng Jinyu believes that the demand for autumn and winter clothing in European and American countries will not disappear during the epidemic. However, the COVID-19 epidemic in Southeast Asian countries and India shows no signs of improvement, so many orders will naturally be transferred to China. “The orders have obviously increased in the past two months, and there are many new customers. The factories also say they are very busy.” Teng Jinyu has an order for cashmere sweaters with a delivery date of the end of November, and has already inquired with two factories. But the other party rejected her on the grounds that she couldn’t fit in.
If Teng Jinyu insists on the delivery date for this kind of order, it will be difficult to find a “home” at the desired time. However, based on his experience, it is generally impossible to find a good one. During the gap period, the factory will accept a 1-2 week delay for orders. “In the end, there are probably not many orders that can’t be completed.” Teng Jinyu, who has experienced one wave after another in China’s exports, is not worried about the future of orders. In the busiest years for China’s foreign trade factories, none of them has experienced “a I work overtime 30 days a month and work all night to rush for goods every day.”
“It was the best time for foreign trade factories at that time.” Teng Jinyu still misses that state. In his eyes, the current order volume is just the amount that will return after the impact of the epidemic gradually subsides, which is consistent with reform and opening up. The increment at the beginning is incomparable. He is busy with shipments during the “Double Eleven” and autumn and winter periods, and has no time to carefully calculate the order volume. He only knows that compared with the first half of the year, the current order volume is increasing, but this number is still dwarfed by the golden era.
Clothing is a seasonal product, and it is not unusual for orders to be packed together. But this congestion has been combined with this year’s special circumstances, causing the supply chain to begin to break down. “Domestic sales of clothing do not dare to carry large inventories this year, and production has been scheduled for this season. In addition, some factories with poor profitability were eliminated at the beginning of the year, and the remaining factory production lines will indeed be busier.” In a factory that Teng Jinyu is familiar with , a jeans factory and an accessories factory closed down.
Cong Jianfei, who founded the domestic women’s clothing brand GA for the seasons, has not been affected by foreign trade orders because he prioritizes maintaining the supply chain. But he is also cautious enough about this, fearing that a supplier that does not pay attention to the upstream will be cut off. As the head of a clothing brand, he spends most of his time staring at the supply chain, staring at factories and raw materials. “It is very difficult to stock up this year, and raw materials may be out of stock at any time.”
Which link can’t be kept up?
When communicating with colleagues, Shan Fengmei joked, “In the first half of this year, whoever stocks more goods will get rich.” But no one, including Shan Fengmei, did this The lucky ones.
In the first half of the year, the absolute prices of PTA, EG, polyester filament staple fiber and other varieties in the chemical fiber industry chain reached the lowest point in more than ten years or even in history, especially when the price of crude oil After the negative value, the price of chemical fiber products fell sharply. “From April to May, chemical fiber manufacturers had so much inventory that they had no place to put it, but at that time no one dared to stock up because they couldn’t predict the market.” Shan Fengmei said that the average price of chemical fiber products last year was 11,000 yuan/ton. By early April this year, the price had dropped to around 5,700 yuan/ton.
This can also be confirmed from the semi-annual financial report of Xinfengming, an upstream listed company. In the first half of this year, Xinfengming’s inventory rose to 2.187 billion yuan, which was only 1.225 billion yuan in the same period last year, which means that the inventory in the first half of this year was nearly double that of the same period last year.
In fact, Xinfengming is one of the better listed companies in the industry that adheres to “low inventory operations”. Compared with peers, its inventory turnover rate in 2019 was 21.61 times, much higher than listed companies such as Hengyi Petrochemical, Tongkun Petrochemical, and Rongsheng Petrochemical. The market has reversed in just a few months. Fabric manufacturers who are willing to stock up cannot do so even if they want to. “The chemical fiber yarns produced every day are robbed by downstream companies, and raw material manufacturers have no inventory.” Shan Fengmei revealed.
When raw materials are in short supply, nor is it closed. ”
In fact, in the short term, the product competitiveness of Chinese enterprises cannot “reach the sky” in one step. We still need to purchase internationally competitive products to maintain global market competitiveness and Share.
Ning Nanshan pointed out that when we develop corresponding domestic substitute products, it does not mean that they can only be made domestically. We still need to maintain an open mind, which is not only conducive to inspiring The vitality and competitiveness of enterprises can also enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of China’s industrial chain, thereby stimulating exports. “The logic of a rebound in exports, an enhanced ability to withstand pressure in the industrial chain, and domestic substitution does not make us close ourselves, but rather provides opportunities for Chinese enterprises to Provide opportunities to compete with strong players. ”</p
