Data from the General Administration of Customs show that in U.S. dollars, China’s exports of goods increased by 19.4% year-on-year in May this year, the highest growth rate in the past three months.
As Sino-US economic and trade relations stabilize, many changes have taken place in the foreign trade market.
The reporter visited Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.
In an international freight forwarding company in Ningbo, Zhejiang, staff are constantly updating the shipping company’s booking system and keeping an eye on the latest space release information.
The person in charge of the company said that the business of American routes accounts for 70% of their total business.
Recently, grabbing cabins and empty boxes has become their most important task every day.
Jiang Lei, general manager of Zhejiang Xinqiaoyuan International Logistics Co., Ltd., said that after May, the China-U.S. route has been fully occupied, and the East China and South China shipping lines are tight, with frequent dumping. The June space has been basically booked, and the overall market has returned to the peak season shortage.
The reporter learned that at the end of April, the freight rate for a 40-foot container from Ningbo to ports in the western United States was approximately US$2,900, and to ports in the eastern United States was approximately US$3,900. After several rounds of price increases, the current freight rate for the US-West route is close to US$6,300, and the freight rate for the US-East route is close to US$7,500.
In an export consolidation warehouse near Ningbo Zhoushan Port, small commodities from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places are consolidated here and then exported to North America.
The person in charge of the warehouse said that from the end of April to the end of May this year, the average daily shipment volume here was close to 80 40-foot containers, and the business exceeded the peak shipping period a year ago.
Industry insiders analyze that from the demand side, the inventory of goods in the United States is at a low level, and there is a need for replenishment; from the perspective of shipping capacity supply, due to the situation in the Middle East, more than 300,000 standard container shipping capacity is trapped in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, the resumption of sailing in the Red Sea has been delayed, cargo ships still need to be detoured, the decline in turnover rate has reduced supply in disguise, and the decline in ship speed has also affected overall shipping capacity, further exacerbating the imbalance between supply and demand.
Freight forwarders are scrambling for shipping space and empty containers. Which commodities have strong demand for shipments?
At a container company in Ningbo, Zhejiang, workers are working overtime to produce liquid freezers.
This type of product is mainly used to cool data centers. The person in charge of the company said that all the liquid cooling cabinets currently produced are exported to the United States, and orders have been scheduled until the end of August.
In another export company in Ningbo, new products are launched every week, and more than half of the various pet products such as cat climbing frames, cat tea sticks and hamster toys are sold to the United States.
The new product displayed by the person in charge of the company adds elements such as bird sounds and color-changing light to traditional cat scratching posts and cat teasing sticks, which increases the added value of the product.
High temperature weather also brings export opportunities for cooling products.
Portable air conditioners and smart, compact slush machines are very popular among American consumers.
Yao Junjun, the head of operations at Zhejiang Ningbo Yueda Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., said that so far this year, 5,000 slush machines have been exported to the United States, a year-on-year increase of about 20%. Because Europeans and Americans are more accustomed to cold drinking habits and living habits, this type of product meets some of the real life needs of local people.
Gao Xuefeng, deputy section chief of the Third Logistics Supervision Section of Daxie Customs under Ningbo Customs, said that Ningbo Port exported more than 290,000 TEUs to the United States in May this year. The export categories mainly include mechanical and electrical products, clothing, textile supplies and furniture supplies.
In addition, from January to May this year, the Export-Import Bank of China issued 490 billion yuan in new foreign trade loans, of which nearly 40% was invested in stabilizing foreign trade entities and stabilizing the foreign trade industry chain.
Fully support intermediate product trade, digital trade, overseas warehouses, etc., promote technological innovation of artificial intelligence, green power equipment and other products, and expand exports.
China’s foreign trade is continuing to develop “toward stability + toward innovation”.
