As people are spending more time at home during the ongoing pandemic, they're also opening their wallets to a growing number of homeware products. As a result, factories in China are seeing rising demand. CGTN's Omar Khan explores how one manufacturer in Guangdong is managing the spike in orders.
Throw in some fruits and vegetables, power on the blender, and voila, a fresh smoothie is on its way. Making a healthy concoction at home seems like a good choice during these troubling times, especially with tens of millions of people around the world stuck at home due to COVID-19.
According to a previous report, during the pandemic, homeware products including furniture, massage bathtubs and electronics saw an upward trend in demand. Take this factory for example, based in Taishan, Guangdong, they produce juicers, blenders and other food processing goods. Workers here have been working work hard to meet the growing demand. Management here say that they first thought their output would be met with devastating impacts from the coronavirus.
They ultimately opted not to hire or bring in extra hands, while also foregoing plans to expand production lines. But with the unexpected surge in demand, the factory now has orders scheduled up until May next year.
MONICA LIANG Vice export manager Foshan Gales Electrical Appliance "100 percent is for the online sales mainly, and for the underline (offline) sales, like the electrical shopping mall actually has the decrease for the sales, totally we have a more than 68% increase. It's a huge amount. We're so surprised, you know."
According to the General Administration of Customs, China's exports surged by 21 percent year-on-year to 268 billion U.S. dollars in November, the fastest pace since March 2018. Personal protective equipment and homeware products were among the biggest contributors.
Talking about the reasons for overseas customers' continuous demand, including lower priced goods from China, Liang says that her company's foreign competitors are still hampered by epidemic control measures. But even with their growing orders here in Taishan, they're still struggling to make a profit.
A lack of workers and rising costs for raw materials are proving to be significant obstacles. Meanwhile China as a whole is undergoing a cargo container shortage because of booming exports in other sectors. This means shipping costs are rising, along with the inventory of ready to ship goods at ports and warehouses.
MONICA LIANG Vice export manager Foshan Gales Electrical Appliance "The biggest problem, I think is the lack of container, even though we can produce and finish in a warehouse, we cannot ship out to our customer. Our goods stay in the warehouse for a long time. So that's why we are trying our best to make the booking in advance, and also make sure that our production schedule is confirmed and on time, so that we can make the delivery on time."
For now however, it's going to be a balancing act of welcoming in new orders, while still managing obstacles at home with the goal of finally getting back to business, in a profitable manner. Omar Khan, CGTN.