Japan'S Clothing Market: Weak Demand, Tight Buyers

< p > "crisis feeling", "not optimistic", "efficiency is not as good as before", "no way"... During the reporter's interview, the export situation of textile and apparel described by several foreign trade enterprises to Japan was helpless. < /p >
< p > < strong > > a href= "http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_z.asp" > order < /a > accelerating flow ASEAN < /strong > /p >
< p > < strong > the sense of enterprise crisis is enhanced < /strong > < /p >
In recent years, with the advantage of low price labor force in Southeast Asian countries, some overseas orders transfer of Chinese enterprises has not been a new topic for P. But with the increase of labor costs and raw material prices in China, many enterprises reflected that this phenomenon became more prominent in the first half year. Nantong Yi Ren Fashion Co., Ltd. is a company that exports clothing to Japan in a year. Its products range from middle-aged and elderly clothing, girl fashion and men's shirts. "The first half of the year is very bad. Many of our company's orders have gone to Southeast Asia. Although no specific statistics have yet been made, the loss of orders is very obvious. In the final analysis, the price of labor in Southeast Asian countries is cheap. Although some of our products have competitive advantages in quality, the price advantage in the past is no longer obvious compared with those exported from Southeast Asian countries. The price of our products has been very low, and now we can only guarantee the basic profit. Lin Yu, an overseas declaration officer, said. < /p >
Huang Xiaoqin, director of the import and export business of Feng Tong Fashion Co., Ltd., also known as P, also expressed the same view: "from the first half of last year, the orders of our company showed signs of reduction. Orders were significantly reduced in October last year, and orders for May this year are very few, and it is unlikely that they will recover in the future." Fung Tong fashion has been exporting products to interior clothing and clothing for middle and old aged people in Japan since 1994. Huang Xiaoqin said that because many orders have shifted to Southeast Asia, the company's business indicators have not yet been completed. At present, the company's order volume is insufficient and its efficiency is not as good as before. < /p >
< p > except for < a href= "http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_z.asp > > Enterprise < /a >, it can be seen from the statistics of Japanese customs. According to statistics, Japan's textile and clothing imports continued to decline this year, down 7.8% in the month of May. 1~5 months, Japan's textile and apparel imports totaled 15 billion 990 million US dollars, down 2.6%, of which 3 billion 720 million US dollars in textile imports, an increase of 6.7%, and clothing imports 12 billion 270 million US dollars, down 5.1%. Japan imported $10 billion 770 million from China, a decrease of 8%, while imports from ASEAN increased 2 billion 910 million over the same period, an increase of 15.9%. The share of Chinese products in the Japanese market dropped to 67%, a decrease of nearly 5 percentage points compared with the same period in 2013. ASEAN's share in Japan rose to 18.2%, an increase of 3 percentage points over the same period in 2013. < /p >
< p > < strong > Japan's weak demand < /strong > < /p >
< p > < strong > buyer pressure is serious < /strong > < /p >
< p > for foreign trade enterprises, the prosperity of the export market and the willingness of residents to consume are the most important concerns of enterprises. The price of the Japanese consumer market has not changed much over the years due to the continued economic downturn. Clothing, shoes and hats and other daily necessities prices also showed a declining trend year by year. But this year, under the impetus of the BoJ policy and external factors, Japan increased the commodity consumption tax from 5% to 8% in April 1st. The price level of Japan has been rising steadily, not only the price of public products such as electricity, gas, medical treatment has increased, but also the prices of grain, oil and real estate, which are closely related to life, are also rising steadily. While prices are rising, Japan's economic situation has been sharply reduced. In the first quarter, the impact of "running consumption" before the consumption tax increased, the economy showed a relatively high growth, but the fall in the two quarter exceeded expectations. According to the news released by the Ministry of Commerce of China, the latest statistics show that Japan's household consumption expenditure fell 8% in May compared with the same period last year, while the sales performance of the retail industry dropped by 4.8% and the household income dropped by 4.6%. The sharp decline of Japan's economic situation, coupled with the weak consumption demand of its residents, has also had a negative impact on China's export enterprises. Hou Nan, a salesman of Luyi Mei Trading Company in Dalian, said the whole environment was not very good. Japan's economic development was sluggish. The company exported clothing to Japan for more than ten years. Exports declined in the past two years, and exports in the first half of this year were much more serious than last year. < /p >
< p > > a href= "http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_z.asp" > Hohhot < /a > Jin Lun Ying te Trading Co., Ltd. is an enterprise that exports scarves and shawls to Japan. Liu Xiaoqing, the head of the company, said: "influenced by the Japanese consumer market and the adjustment of the yen to the US dollar this year, the company's orders in the first half of this year were reduced by 50%~60% compared with the same period last year. In the past, Japanese customers rarely bargain on order prices, but now they hope we can lower the price of our products. Our price is already low, and we can not lower the price according to the customers' wishes. Therefore, our customers have reduced orders and our orders have been reduced. < /p >
< p > < strong > enterprise accelerated adjustment < /strong > < /p >
< p > < strong > in the second half of the year, "not optimistic" < /strong > /p >
< p > industry experts are not optimistic about the development of Japanese economy in the second half of the year. Xu Changwen, director and Research Institute of the Asia Africa Research Department of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said that the 6.7% increase in the first quarter of the Japanese economy was an early overdraft on the increase of consumption tax, while the 4~6 month showed a sharp decline. < /p >
In the case of P, exporters will be more worried. For the prediction of export situation in the second half of the year, most of the enterprises that export to Japan are "not optimistic". Liu Xiaoqing said that faced with the reduction of orders in the first half of the year, enterprises are helpless at the moment and there is no better adjustment strategy in the second half of the year. Lin Yu also said that in addition to the transfer of orders to Southeast Asia, Japan's economic environment is worrying enterprises, and the production and operation of enterprises are also faced with some problems. For example, some local enterprises reflect that most of the skilled sewing machinists in the factory are approaching the age of retirement, while the new generation of young sewing machines demand higher wages and salaries. Some enterprises are faced with a shortage of skilled technicians. The number of sewing machines in the company is about 30%. This situation also indirectly caused the reduction of orders in enterprises. At present, some southern enterprises are turning to Southeast Asia to set up processing plants, in order to make use of local cheap labor force to save costs. The company also has the same consideration at the moment, and will also invest in various directions instead of focusing solely on the export of clothing business. < /p >