Cost spike: Containers at a port in China. Shipping rates from China to Europe rose as much as 100% in July compared with the rates in May. — AFP
Beijing: With soaring sea freight costs impacting global trade this year, Chinese exporters have been rushing to ship Christmas-themed products to overseas buyers, leading to an earlier-than-usual send-off of holiday-related goods.
Exporters said that the growing shipping costs between China and Europe, as well as China and the United States, have forced Chinese manufacturers to adjust their timelines.
Many companies have sped up their production schedules and secured container space to ensure timely shipments of Christmas gifts and other items overseas.
Due to ongoing tensions in the Red Sea region and other geopolitical uncertainties, the spot price for a 40-foot container setting sail from Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province or Shanghai to Rotterdam in the Netherlands was around US$8,000 in the first half of July, soaring 100% compared to mid-May, said the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
Ningbo in Zhejiang province, another major trade hub in East China, saw exports of holiday-related products grow 10% to 790 million yuan or about US$110.9mil in the first seven months.
Meanwhile, East China’s Jiangsu province exported a total of 930 million yuan worth of such goods, soaring 33.9% on a yearly basis, statistics from Ningbo Customs and Nanjing Customs showed.
Christmas products encompass a wide range of festive items that are popular during the holiday season.
These include Christmas decorations like artificial trees, ornaments and lights, as well as figurines of Santa, reindeers and snowmen. They also cover gifts, Christmas cards, speciality food items and holiday-themed apparel such as sweaters and Santa hats.
Rather than waiting to ship its products in large bulk volume to various foreign markets during the August-September period, Nanjing Zhongmao Craftwork Gift Co, a Nanjing, Jiangsu-based company specialising in making ceramic dolls and Christmas gifts, had already shipped ten 20-foot equivalent units to clients in the United States, South Africa and Australia in July.
“The multifunctional Santa Claus and angel products we have developed, featuring electric, fibre optic and sound elements, are high in quality and competitively priced. We have built a stable customer base in the United States,” said Xie Hongyan, the company’s head of logistics.
Ningbo Flyingking Import and Export Co, a Ningbo-based manufacturer of Christmas decor, reindeer and promotional items, shipped seven million yuan worth of Christmas products to overseas markets in July. The export value of these items is expected to exceed 10 million yuan on a monthly basis in both August and September.
“In addition to seizing stable market share in traditional markets like Britain, Germany and the United States, we have gained orders placed by new customers in Ireland this year,” said Pan Danqun, the company’s general manager, adding that Ningbo Flyingking’s export value reached 46.05 million yuan during the January-July period, jumping 40.23% year-on-year.
The surge in shipments of Christmas products involves not only steady overseas expansion of traditional products, but also ongoing efforts by innovative companies.
Longjing Cultural and Creative (Jiangsu) Co, a Nantong, Jiangsu-based sticker maker, has exported its products to 33 countries, including Canada, the United States and New Zealand.
“We have been preparing stock for Christmas-themed stickers since April. In the past two months, the delivery schedule has been quite tight, with shipments going out every week,” said Yu Lipeng, a sales manager at the company. — China Daily/ANN
