UNIQLO: H&M Seeks Suppliers In Africa For Cost Reduction

Whether H&M, Zara or UNIQLO, the main suppliers are still distributed in China and Southeast Asia.

Manufacturing industry has a big impact.

The rapid growth of fast fashion years has begun to show signs of weakness, and face increasingly fierce competition.

All brands expect to earn profits as low as possible.

According to the latest news from foreign media, the Swedish fast fashion H&M Group executives visited some major cities in South Africa this week to find new suppliers for brands.

It is reported that the reason for H&M's decision is that its suppliers in the Chinese market are affected by rising labor costs and tariff policy adjustments.

Data show that China's labor cost has risen to 7 times in just 10 years. At present, the labor cost of China's textile industry is 1.08 US dollars per hour, 3.5 times the cost of labor in Bangladesh, Kampuchea and Vietnam.

At present, the H&M group has 18 sales outlets in South Africa. After analyzing the guidelines, the non supplier's cooperation with H&M will greatly enhance the competitiveness of the local garment manufacturing industry in Ethiopia and Swaziland.

A number of factories in South Africa were forced to close because of their inability to compete with Chinese manufacturers, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs.

What makes sense is that H&M was wearing a black boy in January this year.

The commercials were racially discriminated, and 6 stores in South Africa were forced to close because they were smashed by the radical militant economic freedom fighters in Africa. H&M immediately apologized for the advertisements and immediately removed the relevant pictures and products.

In fact, H&M's move to South Africa to find suppliers is not nowhere to be found. In a speech at the beginning of this month, Ebrahim Patel, Minister of economic development of South Africa, revealed that after the H&M apology, the South African government proposed that the group could consider purchasing goods in South Africa, while the South African clothing and textile workers union Sactwu repeatedly accused H&M in the past decade of not buying locally, damaging the local garment manufacturing industry.

Amelia-May Woudstra, a spokeswoman for H&M in South Africa, responded that the Group executives had inspecting suppliers from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, and is currently conducting an assessment to select the most suitable partners. The products of 18 stores in the future will be provided by selected local suppliers.