US Dollar Exchange Rates of
10th
Sep
2022
China Yuan 6.9265
Report from China
Logs imports via China-Europe raiway
The China-Europe freight raiway serves China, Europe
and the countries in between. As the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) develops this train service has become a
key channel for economic cooperation between China and
other countries along the BRI routes.
High value-added products are transported by the China-
Europe freight trains such as electronic equipment,
automobiles and parts. However, in the early stage of
development, in order to alleviate no return load problem
and share the freight costs, the return freight trains mostly
transported timber back to China.
Thanks to the growth of the timber trade between China
and European countries, as well as Russia and the
geographical advantages of rail links; business is booming.
According to a Development Report on the China-Europe
Railway Express (2021), 82 transport routes connecting
196 cities in 24 European countries have been established
making an extensive network for trade.
The products transported have expanded from mobile
phones, computers and other IT products in the early days
to more than 50,000 varieties in 53 categories such as
clothing, shoes and hats, cars and accessories, grain, wine,
coffee beans and wood products.
Many cities have opened special timber trains such as
Wuwei in Gansu Province, Chengdu, Rizhao in Shandong
Province, Chongqing and Changsha and the timber centres
that have been opened include Manzhouli, Erenhot,
Alashankou and Suifenhe.
In order to transport and distribute products more
efficiently some cities have invested heavily. For example,
Chengdu Qingbaijiang Wood Trading Center implements
a "freight train plus park" mode with Chengdu
International Railways. It operates a special timber train
between Russia allowing timely and effective responses to
changes in the supply and demand market.
According to Suifenhe Customs data 462 China-Europe
freight trains with 47,133 TEUs were handled between
January and July this year, a year-on-year growth of over
70%.
According to Manzhouli Customs data there were 2,215
inbound and outbound China-Europe freight trains
handled through Manzhouli port in the first half of 2022,
an increase of 34% year-on-year. About 180,000 TEUs
were transported, an increase of 40%.
The total value of goods was about RMB25 billion, an
increase of 56%. Of the total, there were 1,239 inbound
freight trains and 976 outbound freight trains.
The travel time for timber between China and Europe is
about 30 days usually. Compared with sea transportation
the freight train is the most time-efficient and the most
cost competitive mode of transportation.
See:
https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/fzggw/jgsj/kfs/sjdt/202208/P020220818311703111697.pdf
China exports more office wooden furniture than it
imports
According to the data from China Customs, China
exported far more wooden office furniture than it imports
between 2014 to 2021.
The value of China¡¯s wooden office furniture exports
grew
17% and 20% year-on-year in 2020 and 2021 respectively
after a decline of 19% in 2019.
The rise in production has been spurred by a growth in
manufacturing capacity to serve the international and
domestic markets such that imports of wooden office
furniture have fallen steadily in recent years. It is
estimated that the market for China's office furniture
industry is expected to grow to RMB350 billion next year.
In the first half of 2022 the value of China¡¯s
wooden office
furniture exports reached US$603 million, but imports
were valued at just US$4.9 million, down 13% and 43%
respectively. The US is the largest market for China¡¯s
wooden office furniture followed by Japan accounting for
43% and 10% of total exports.
The value of China¡¯s office wood furniture exports fell
recently mainly because of a decline in imports by both
major markets.
Surge in China¡¯s wooden office furniture
imports from
Finland
According to China Customs the value of China¡¯s wooden
office furniture imports fell 43% to US$4.9 million in the
first half of 2022. Poland was the largest supplier and Italy
the second, down 32% and 36% respectively. It is worth
noting that the value of almost all main suppliers of
China¡¯s wooden office furniture fell in the first half of this
year except for imports from Finland.
Investment by Chinese companies in Mexico at
record
high
Investment by Chinese companies in Mexico has reached
a record high as companies take advantage of US tariff
structures on imports from Mexico. Most of the Chinese
companies investing in Mexico are electrical appliance
and furniture manufacturers.
Mexico had attracted investment from 1,289 Chinese
companies by mid-2022.
Man Wah Holdings, a Hongkong furniture manufacturer,
has invested US$300 million to build a factory in Mexico.
Zhejiang-based Kuka Home announced in March 2022
that it would expand its production capacity in Mexico and
ZOY Living built a new factory in Nuevo Leon of Mexico
in April 2022.
Thanks to the US-Mexico-Canada agreement Mexico is
very attractive for Chinese companies. The trade
agreement, which took effect in 2020, allows Mexican
companies to export goods to the United States tariff-free
if they meet requirements such as using a certain
percentage of components made in North America.
GGSC-CN Index Report (August 2022)
In August 2022 the impact of the pandemic was reduced
but China's economic growth was still under great pressure
as demand had contracted and other problems such as raw
material costs were still affecting many industries.
China's PMI rose to 49.4% in August as signe of recovery
began to emerge but the PMI is still below the critical
value of 50 indicating that a long-term downward pressure
on the economy still existed.
Production by wood processing and manufacturing
enterprises had started to recover. Orders and production
were higher than the previous month and new orders were
rising.
The GGSC-CN comprehensive index for
July registered 51.4% (43% for last August and 47.0% for
August 2020) an increase from the previous month and it
rose above the critical value of 50% after five months. See
below..
Challenges
Poor quality of raw materials, difficulty in securing raw
material
Erratic production
Some inputs in short supply: hardwood flooring blanks of
oak and birch.
Commodity of which the price has been increased:
Hardware, metal, plate.
Commodity of which the price has been decreased:
Dipteryx spp, Chiorophra spp, taun, teak.
For the August 2022 GGSC-CN index, four sub-indexes
increased and one declined.
The production index value was 50.0% an increase over
the previous month and returned to the critical value after
four months indicating that production by wood product
enterprises represented by GGSC-CN index was basically
flat compared with the last month.
The new order index was 55.56%, an increase from the
previous month and returned to above the critical value
after five months reflecting a significant recovery in the
ability of enterprises to obtain orders.
Among these the new export order index, which reflects
the situation of foreign trade, was 57.14%, an increase
over the previous month indicating that the continuous
decline of export orders had halted.
The main raw material inventory index was 44.4%, a
decline from the previous month reflecting the increase in
the number of orders and the acceleration of raw material
consumption.
The employment index was 55.6%, an increase over the
previous month indicating that the employment of forest
products enterprises represented by GGSC-CN index
increased compared with last month.
The supplier delivery time index was 44.4%, an increase
over the previous month indicating that the supply time of
raw material suppliers of forest
products enterprises represented by GGSC-CN
index decreased compared with last month.
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