Jiaxing Leather Industry Will Break Through Under The Cost Of Environmental Protection

A black leather garment is quietly displayed in the display cabinet at the international brand counter of a shopping mall in Shanghai. The price tag is 38 thousand yuan. Wang Changzhi (alias) recognized the raw material of this fur coat at the first glance. He told reporters: "I am not a big boast. Now the international brand leather goods sold in China, at least 30% of the raw materials are from my factory."

Wang Changzhi's factory is located in Jiaxing, less than 80 kilometers away from Shanghai, the most important one in China. Leatherwear Processing base. Most of the sheepskin material produced in Wang Changzhi's factory is supplied to some European and American brands. Clothes & Accessories Production base in China. However, in recent years, although the orders from European and American businessmen are not short, the environmental costs and labor costs are increasing, which compresses profit margins, which has caused him much trouble. Walking into Wang Changzhi's factory, the rotten smell of animal fur is coming up. "Making skin processing is the most annoying thing." One side of the warehouse is filled with raw sheepskin imported from Australia, which is basically the smell.

The so-called "raw hide" is the fur that is taken from the animal, to prevent decay, full of wet salt, but the subcutaneous fat and the hair of the epidermis have not yet been processed. Jiaxing entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau director Shen Qilin introduced. The processing of raw leather is very complicated, and more than ten processes need to be applied to the semi finished leather. Chemicals are unavoidable and the main source of pollution in leather processing. "Because the smell is bad, young workers are relatively hard to recruit." For Wang Changzhi, such a production environment has long been used, but for young workers, it is different.

Not only that, although orders have been delayed, the smaller profit margins are pressing on Wang Changzhi. "The factory has a total of more than 400 workers, wages are rising every year, and more importantly, the environmental cost of raw leather processing is getting higher and higher." Wang Changzhi gave the reporter an account: at present his business provides clothing The price of the high grade sheepskin at the processing base is 32 yuan / foot, a sheepskin is about 7 feet, and a finished leather coat costs only 4.5 sheepskin. "This will reduce the price of leather goods of 210 yuan a sheepskin and a few tens of thousands of yuan, which will not exceed 1000 yuan. Because of the cost increase in every aspect, the net profit of each skin is only 4 yuan to 5 yuan, and a fur coat earns 20 yuan at most." {page_break}

　　 Raw leather is wet blue, and high pollution links are kept outside the country.

In order to improve factory efficiency, leather processing enterprises in Jiaxing began to transform into blue wet cowhide in recent years. Zhejiang Xianglong Leather Co., Ltd., located in Gaoqiao Town, Tongxiang, has been importing wet blue (raw semi processed leather) after nearly two years. "Although the cost of wet blue is even higher, compared with the increasing cost of sewage and labor costs, the process of leather processing has really improved." Xianglong leather chairman Chen Xiangjiang told reporters. Chen Xiangjiang said that at present, according to the size of the factory, the emission target is 1056 tons per day, which is far from the standard according to the original production mode.

"After using wet blue, at least 100 thousand tons of water is reduced, and 1000 tons of wastewater is discharged every day." Chen Xiangjiang said, according to the current 10 yuan / ton of water treatment costs, this cost can not be underestimated. The working environment of raw leather processing is bad. Every worker also needs to give an additional allowance of 80 yuan per day. "The former production line workers who used to make raw skins are now arranged in the back process, which also increases the annual output." Chen Xiangjiang disclosed that Xianglong leather sales last year was 700 million yuan, and this year it is expected to exceed 1 billion yuan.

It is understood that Jiaxing is one of the important leather manufacturing and sales bases in China. As a traditional leather processing industry, the processing of raw leather has existed for many years. Shen Qilin said that the import of leather sheets in Jiaxing accounted for half of the province, so the pollution problem caused by such a large number of imported leather processing has always been a problem of Jiaxing inspection and quarantine personnel. The development of local economy must not be done at the expense of the environment. Inspection and quarantine personnel are constantly groping for ways to make the best of both worlds. "Therefore, for some large enterprises, we are gradually guiding them to import wet blue as far as possible, and block the main pollution links outside the country." {page_break}

　　 Small changes in import links bring new vitality to enterprises.

"This is a whole layer of cowhide, the main fabric of leather sofa." In the Gaoqiao Industrial Park, Zhou Zhixian briefed reporters in a busy production workshop. One piece of cowhide is being reprocessed, dyed and dried for more than 10 processes, and eventually becomes a finished product with fine texture and soft luster. "We export to the largest home brand in the United States for their production of sofa." Zhou Zhixian's production workshop in Gaoqiao Town Industrial Park, Tongxiang, many years ago, a well-known American household brand found this factory unconsciously. Zhou Zhixian also became the main supplier of sofa materials, providing nearly 80% of the sofa material of the brand.

Since 2006, Zhou Zhixian has interrupted the import of raw hide and imported wet blue. Zhou Zhixian said, at that time, the original intention was to concentrate production lines to meet the increasing demand of customers. "I have a total of three big clients, and the order is too late." But in the past few years, Zhou Zhixian has found that this change has not only improved the environment of the factory, but also made him stand out from the same industry, which has been moistened by many times. "Originally I had to discharge 3000 tons of wastewater a day, and now only discharge 650 tons of wastewater a day." Zhou Zhixian said that in the processing workshop of raw skins, it is very difficult to recruit workers in summer and it is very difficult to recruit workers. Wages are higher now than before, but the benefits have increased. Last year, the export volume was $120 million, and output was 3 times that of 2006. " On the other hand, the import price of raw leather is fluctuating and the risk is much harder to control. "Because raw skins can only be stored for several months and can not be imported in large quantities, so the import price of this month may be several times higher than that of next month. The construction period is difficult to grasp, but the wet blue can be stored for 10 years.

Zhou Zhixian said, originally imported raw leather, inspection and quarantine clearance link takes 3-7 days, and imported wet blue skin, the character is relatively stable, can be preserved at room temperature for a long time, the inspection and quarantine department has given a green channel, usually on the same day to complete customs clearance. The rapid clearance of leather sheets effectively strengthens the planning of production, and has a significant effect on improving production and profit. It is understood that so far, 6 enterprises in Jiaxing imported wet blue skin, of which two enterprises have completely stopped the import of raw leather, and some enterprises are trying to import the finished products. The proportion of raw leather imports is decreasing year by year. In the first quarter of this year, the value of imported wet blue skin in Jiaxing increased by 159%, while the import of raw leather decreased by 33.7%.