In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread, global consumer demand has declined, and the demand for optional consumer goods has been more significantly suppressed. Some customers in the US and European markets have canceled or postponed their import orders for textiles and clothing from my country, resulting in the The decline in clothing exports in the first quarter was higher than that of the overall goods trade exports. Among them, the decline in clothing exports exceeded that of textile exports. In the export product structure, for the first time, the scale of clothing exports was lower than the scale of textile exports.
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on April 14, affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the country’s overall foreign trade in goods declined in the first quarter of 2020. In U.S. dollar terms, the country’s foreign trade imports and exports were US$943.22 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8.4%, of which exports fell by 13.3% and imports fell by 2.9%.
In the first quarter of 2020, my country’s textile products The cumulative export value of clothing was US$45.26 billion, down 17.7% from the same period last year. Among them, textile exports were US$22.69 billion, down 14.6% year-on-year; clothing exports were US$22.57 billion, down 20.6% year-on-year.
From the perspective of textile and clothing exports over the years, due to the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic, the current level of decline in my country’s textile and clothing exports has even exceeded that after the financial crisis. Year 2009. According to statistics, in 2009, the country’s exports of goods fell by 16.0%, and the exports of textiles and clothing fell by 10.07%. In the first quarter of 2020, the country’s exports of goods fell by 13.3%, and the decline in textiles and clothing exports deepened to 17.70%.
Secondly, on April 16, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology According to reports, the textile industry is currently facing three major difficulties.
The first is insufficient demand. From a domestic perspective, the retail sales of clothing, shoes and hats, and knitted textiles above the domestic market quota from January to February were year-on-year. dropped by 31%. From an international perspective, since March, a large number of export orders have been delayed or canceled, and new orders have also decreased significantly. According to the latest survey results of more than 100 key enterprises by the China Cotton Textile Industry Association, the proportion of enterprises reporting insufficient orders reached 63.6%.
Second, the pressure on the industry to stabilize employment is increasing. The pressure of reduced orders is being transmitted upstream along the industrial chain, which will have an impact on the normal operation of the textile industry chain, and the employment situation in the industry is becoming more severe.
Third, enterprises reported financial constraints. Affected by the decline in orders and refunds, the inventory backlog of raw materials and finished products of textile companies is increasing. Especially in the chemical fiber industry, since continuous production cannot be stopped, it is facing great inventory pressure and the amount of funds is also increasing.
Therefore, textile foreign trade companies also need to adapt to this situation, change their thinking, and gradually shift from toB to toC. The following is from a real textile company Let’s take a look at the case of a foreign trade boss!
“Foreign trade companies are doing to-B business, and now they must change to to-C thinking.” “Now everyone doesn’t talk about business matters when eating. It’s not so bad, but it makes me depressed once we talk about it.” When Yang Hao, the person in charge of a leather goods import and export company in Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province, said this, his tone was full of helplessness.
Yang Hao has been engaged in the foreign trade industry for 7 years. He has three factories in Yiwu, Zhejiang, mainly engaged in the import and export of leather goods and jewelry. Like many friends in the industry, I have been troubled by chargebacks and order delays recently.
Under this epidemic, import and export companies and foreign trade people have been in trouble for several months. Logistics, orders, resumption of production, cash flow… are like this All need to be taken care of.
With the “open city” of Wuhan, the epidemic “transferred” from China to overseas. Various countries have gradually implemented anti-epidemic measures, leaving China’s import and export companies still under the shadow of the epidemic.
Data from the Ministry of Commerce show that from January to February, my country’s total foreign trade import and export volume was 4.12 trillion yuan, a decrease of 9.6% compared with the same period last year. Among them, the export volume was 2.04 trillion yuan, showing a double-digit decline.
As a province with a major import and export business, Zhejiang’s total import and export volume from January to February was 401.5 billion yuan, of which exports were 281.9 billion yuan, year-on-year respectively. down 12.3% and 17.6%.
On March 30, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at the State Council press conference: “The spread of the international epidemic will inevitably have an impact on our country’s industrial chain and The supply chain and foreign trade exports have caused a greater economic impact. As the international epidemic further spreads, my country’s foreign trade import and export situation may further deteriorate.”
Fortunately, Internet companies responded quickly to the epidemic. Pinduoduo, JD.com, Alibaba 1688, etc. have introduced support policies for foreign trade merchants and built exclusive online sales platforms for local foreign trade companies. This has attracted many foreign trade companies to focus on “converting foreign trade to domestic sales”.
However, is it really that wonderful to use the Internet to do domestic business?
Extension of extension, unsubscription of unsubscription
” 200,000 canvas bags were returned, costing 1 million yuan.” Yang Hao, who rushed to meet the customer, told the retail king in a hurry.
This batch of goods is from a Swedish customer.Order placed before ��. After the domestic epidemic situation eased, Yang Hao immediately organized the factory to resume work, seized the time to produce, and finally completed it before the delivery date.
Unexpectedly, when boxes of canvas bags were pulled to the express delivery point in Yiwu and were about to be sent to Shanghai, Yang Hao suddenly Received a call: The customer has gone bankrupt and we don’t want this batch of goods.
The bankrupt Swedish company has now been taken over by debt companies. Yang Hao could only go to the company’s Shanghai office and negotiate with the debtor company to resolve the matter.
“This order must be a loss. Now we are negotiating with the debt company. We just want to reduce the losses. It would be great if we can get more.” Yang Hao He said that the possibility of applying for compensation is almost zero. “The wages of the employees in this office have not been paid yet.”
The house is leaking. It rained all night. Except for the order from the bankrupt Swedish customer, Yang Hao’s other orders were either refunded or delayed.
“Orders originally placed at the end of March and early April have now been postponed to mid-May.” Yang Hao said, “There are also a few orders that have been returned. The goods are still there, so we can only sell them slowly, but the funds invested in the early stage are all suppressed.”
It is estimated that the backlog of chargebacks is about 400,000. ~500,000 US dollars in payment, if the goods cannot be sold in time, Yang Hao’s company will suffer heavy losses.
Yang Hao’s experience is just a microcosm of the impact of the epidemic on China’s tens of millions of foreign traders.
In Yiwu, Zhejiang, foreign trade companies like those run by Yang Hao are called “family workshops”. Although they are small in scale, they support China’s Import and export industry.
Data show that China has 3 million to 5 million small and medium-sized enterprises focusing on foreign trade business, and the import and export foreign trade volume they create accounts for 60% of our total foreign trade. %.
Converting foreign trade to domestic sales is not easy
What to do if 200,000 canvas bags are piled up in the warehouse?
Yang Hao said that the best situation is that a large wholesaler can take it away at once, but the possibility is relatively small. Selling it for domestic sales might also be a way, but after he calculated his accounts, he finally gave up the idea of selling it domestically.
According to Yang Hao, the production cost of canvas bags is about 7 yuan, and the price sold to Swedish customers is more than 8 yuan. Yang Hao only Shipping costs need to be borne, and in the end, the profit margin of canvas bags is approximately 14%.
“If you use e-commerce, the cost will be at least twice as high if the expenses are shared.” Yang Hao told the retail gentleman. An account: “Packaging, warehouse, operation, customer service, packaging… these all have costs. Even if a single canvas bag can be sold for 10 yuan in domestic sales, I am still losing money.”
What’s more important is that unlike the bulk and one-time shipping methods of foreign trade business, domestic sales are basically scattered consumers, with only one or two purchases. Yang Hao is obviously not used to this sales model.
“Acclimatized” and these canvas bags are backlogged in the warehouse. “Domestic consumers and overseas consumers have different aesthetic concepts and different needs. Domestic consumers cannot appreciate this batch of foreign trade products,” Yang Hao said.
Internet marketing costs are not cheap
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