Japan Earthquake Will Influence China's Textile and Garment Industry

The strong earthquake in Japan caused a tsunami and caused tremendous damage to the country’s economy. As one of the world's leading industrial powers and export powers, Japan’s great earthquake has shown its impact on the world economy and industry.

The overall impact on the Chinese economy is not large. From the information analysis that is not yet complete, we can see that the impact of the earthquake on the Chinese economy will not be too great.

The earthquake is not fatal to the Japanese economy. The quake occurred in the immediate vicinity of the northeastern part of Honshu Island, not in the land of the core economic zone such as Tokyo or Osaka. Compared with the 1995 Great Earthquake, the damage and impact of the earthquake on the economy may be smaller.

The earthquake has a wide range of impact on the Chinese economy, but the overall impact is small. Japan is China’s third largest trading nation and has extensive and close economic ties with China. This will inevitably have an impact on China’s economy. However, due to China’s large trade deficit with Japan’s trade, China exported 121.06 billion to Japan in 2010. The US dollar imports 176.71 billion U.S. dollars and the trade deficit is as high as 55.65 billion U.S. dollars. Therefore, for China, the short-term supply shortage will have a certain impact.

After the earthquake, Japan may further relax its monetary policy, which will further loosen the international currency environment. This will undoubtedly increase inflationary pressure. From the perspective of financial markets, Japanese insurance companies will sell international gold production to raise insurance claims, and the yen may experience periodic returns, resulting in short-term declines in international stock markets and short-term appreciation of the yen. From the commodity point of view, the decline in short-term demand may cause prices to fall, but in the long term, the rise in commodity prices will not be changed due to increased demand for reconstruction.

Textile and apparel exports may be impacted by the impact of specific industries. The earthquake in Japan will directly affect the industries in which China exports its products, such as textiles, clothing and agricultural products.

Wang Dingying, vice president of Ningbo Peacebird Group and general manager of Taiping Bird Import & Export Corporation, told reporters that she was receiving customers when she received the earthquake news from Japan. She immediately asked the salesperson to contact the customer, but many phones could no longer be used.

The annual export of Pacific bird is nearly 100 million U.S. dollars, of which the Japanese market is estimated at 67 million U.S. dollars per year, accounting for about 8%. The market has been very stable. On the day of the earthquake, there were just two shipments and so far no news. "It is not yet clear what the loss is. Fortunately, we all have insurance." Wang Dingying said.

"The large container ship at sea does not matter. What worries most is the impact of the tsunami on the wharf. The cargo ship cannot rely on the shore or is directly engulfed." Last night, the sales of the Sino-Ship Japan Line was most talked about by the Japanese earthquake.

"On Friday, we had just shipped a shipment. From Ningbo to Kanto, we should arrive in Hong Kong on Monday." Mr. Pan was a bit worried because the port of Guandong was a relatively serious disaster. Yesterday, he always called the customer to send an e-mail to see if the goods were lost.

In addition, many foreign trade companies are worried about the "sequelae" of the market caused by the earthquake. Zhejiang Xinda Group has an annual export value of 500 million U.S. dollars, of which the Japanese market accounts for nearly one-third, mainly clothing and bedding. "Fortunately, the recent off-season shipments have little impact, but the next phase is not complete," said Jiang Yimin, the group's principal, who told reporters.

According to analysis by relevant persons from the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, in the short term, the Japanese earthquake may have a negative impact on the export of Zhejiang foreign trade companies. However, due to the small proportion of exports to Japan, the impact is limited. On the other hand, after short-term demand has been suppressed, there will be a need to restock. In the medium to long term, due to the earthquake damage in Japan, there is a large demand for post-earthquake reconstruction, and related companies may get more orders from Japan, but this will take time to prove.

However, the Japanese earthquake has little direct impact on China's textile and clothing listed companies.

Logistics faces upward pressure on prices The reporter learned from Jiaxing Customs yesterday evening that a number of cargo ships destined for Kansai, Japan, have arrived safely in Hong Kong, and the cargo ships destined for Kanto have not yet landed in scheduled ports. “Right now, according to feedback, several ports in Kansai are very busy and the goods have different degrees of stagnation,” said a person from Jiaxing Customs.

In addition to worrying about the safety of goods, whether the shipping costs will increase in the later period is also a concern of many freight forwarding companies and foreign trade companies. “We do not rule out the possibility of price increases on some routes because of risk factors.” Another sales manager of a large shipping company in Ningbo expressed his concerns. It is understood that at the end of March each year is the financial settlement month for many companies in Japan, and it is also reasonable for the Japan Air Line Association to issue related emergency surcharges before that.

With Yiwu as a logistics hub, many of the goods that go to Japan are transported by sea. The reporter learned from several large logistics companies in Yiwu that the port of Sendai City is not a business agglomeration area and currently has little impact on the logistics industry in Yiwu.

Jin Xufeng, general manager of Jinlong International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd. of Yiwu City, said that the Yiwu-Nippon Shipping Center was mainly concentrated in the ports of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, and they were basically unaffected by the Eastern shipping. According to reports, there are few Japanese traders in Yiwu near the city of Sendai, and there are only two of them. “At present, the communication between the two companies’ representatives is interrupted. The company has no backlog of goods to this port. ”

Taobao "Japan Shopping Service" has stopped taking orders yesterday. The reporter entered "Japanese Shopping Service" on Taobao. There are more than 1,000 shops. Among them, there are more than 100 registered online shops in Wuhan. Online "Japan Shopping Service" focuses on cosmetics, milk powder, daily necessities, and more.

A Wuhan seller told the reporter that the strong earthquake will definitely affect the Japanese shopping service. Due to traffic restrictions, some small online shops are likely to “dispose of food”. He is purchasing Japanese clothing and has now stopped placing orders. He said that he is a Japanese student and he has just returned to China. Fortunately, without an earthquake, business can only be released first.

The seller "Sino-Japanese Union Store" seller said that it is no longer purchasing orders. The milk powder she runs is currently in stock, and the imported Japanese cosmetics such as FANCL are no longer available. "I don't have much money on my hands, so I have to wait for orders to be purchased, so the current supply is tight."