It is less than two months before the 2022 Qatar World Cup kicks off. Although it is still early, products related to the World Cup have already become in demand in Yiwu, Zhejiang.
In a football shop in Yiwu, the reporter met Chen Long, a purchaser from Germany, who planned to send another batch of products to German customers before the World Cup.
German buyer Chen Long: Football is very popular in our country. I want to purchase at least 3 containers today.
The business owners who received Chen Long told reporters that, as football manufacturers, they are looking forward to the World Cup every four years. In order to prepare for this World Cup, they have specially launched 20 or 30 new products.
Ye Xiaojun, the operator of Yiwu International Trade City: The sales volume is higher than in previous years, and this year is still OK.
10% to 20% growth is there.
Lao Sheng, the shop next door to Ye Xiaojun, has been very busy these days. Lao Sheng said that although the price of raw materials has risen by about 10% this year, the enthusiasm of foreign merchants to purchase World Cup commodities has not retreated.
The orders of the old customers alone have already been placed in November.
Sheng Jianzhong, an operator of Yiwu International Trade City: If a new customer comes to place an order, there may be a small amount in the warehouse, maybe a little more, and maybe even give it to him.
If it is not in stock, new customers will basically not take orders.
Purchasing and placing orders are busy, and the factory is also in full swing.
In a trophy factory in Yiwu, 6 workers are producing 5 orders at the same time, and these trophies of different styles will be sent to India, Nigeria and other countries within 10 days.
Shi Yan, the production supervisor of a certain stationery and sports goods Co., Ltd. in Yiwu City: If the trophies are assembled only, about 4,000 sets can be assembled every day.
From April to the present, it has basically been running at full capacity every day.
Full-load production is not an exception. In another factory in Yiwu, workers are rushing to produce 45,000 cheer sticks to Panama.
Supervisor Jiang Jielun introduced that in order to catch up with the delivery time, they adjusted the shift schedule and extended the production time. There used to be 4 people in an assembly line, but now it has increased to 6 people.
Jiang Jielun, Director of a Toy Co., Ltd. in Yiwu: At present, we are making a steady stream of orders this year, and there is no idle time. Overall this year is pretty good.
According to estimates by the Yiwu Sporting Goods Association, from footballs to jerseys, from cheering horns, whistles, scarves, to Hercules Cup ornaments and pillows, Yiwu's manufacturing accounts for almost 70% of the market share of the entire World Cup peripheral commodities.
In the first eight months of this year, Yiwu exported 3.82 billion yuan of sporting goods and 9.66 billion yuan of toys.
Speeding up logistics enables fast delivery of World Cup "packages"
Overseas merchants have purchased a large number of commodities. How to deliver the products to all parts of the world before the World Cup has become the top priority of Yiwu merchants.
In order to let merchants not miss the golden period of foreign trade sales of the World Cup, Yiwu has opened the "World Cup Special Line" logistics.
Outside the factory, workers are loading the truck. After the container is shipped from Yiwu to Ningbo Port in the afternoon, it will arrive in the hands of Armenian guests in more than 20 days.
The person in charge, Ye Demo, said that now the factory is very busy with deliveries, and the customers are also very tight.
Ye Demo, the person in charge of a certain stationery and sports goods Co., Ltd. in Yiwu: We basically have a cabinet every month, and we send one to two abroad in this way.
Now some products around the World Cup, it is almost entering a final stage.
It is understood that from Yiwu to the Middle East, the delivery time is calculated as 25 days, which means that at the latest in early October, the manufacturer must send all the products related to the World Cup.
Then, the pressure for the next stage was passed on to the import and export company.
At an import and export company in Yiwu Port, Dong Huijuan, an employee, is confirming a shipping schedule with a client to deliver a high cabinet horn and whistle to Qatar.
Dong Huijuan, an employee of a Zhejiang Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.: I found out that Qatar is in the state of sailing yesterday, and it should be possible to arrive at the destination port on October 14th.
On the other hand, Hu Yue's company, whose delivery business is concentrated in the Middle East, will ship seven or eight hundred cabinets every month. Hu Yue said that the price of sea freight has dropped recently. For example, the sea freight to Qatar used to be about 7,000 US dollars, but Now that shipping is down to $1,500, buyers pay a lot more to order, and some use the extra money to order clippers directly.
Hu Yue, General Manager of an International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd. in Zhejiang: The decline in sea freight has led to a decline in the proportion of its transportation costs in the entire trade system, so it is good for this export.
Take our shipment volume this month as an example, it is about 30% higher than last month's shipment volume.
In order to let more merchants not miss the golden period of "World Cup" foreign trade sales, in mid-September, Yiwu opened the "World Cup Special Line" logistics. Via this shipping line, "fan products" such as soccer balls and string flags sold in Yiwu pass through Ningbo Port. Starting from Shanghai Port, the timeliness can be increased by 10% to 20%, and it can reach Hamad Port in Qatar in 20 to 25 days.
"World Cup Surrounding Fever" Drives the Gradual Warming of the Domestic Market
Although overseas orders are coming to an end, the sports fever driven by the World Cup is expected to continue for a long time.
Yiwu merchants are gearing up, waiting for domestic sales to gradually heat up.
Tong Guijuan, who sells horns, fuel sticks and other products, is sorting out her inventory. Since she received her first World Cup-related order in November last year, the Qatar World Cup has brought her a 20% to 40% increase in sales.
Tong Guijuan, an operator of Yiwu International Trade City: It is almost finished, and it is relatively late for foreign trade.
Wu Xiaoming, who sells footballs, still has the last batch of goods on hand. After the football with the Qatar World Cup authorization logo is sold, his foreign trade orders for the World Cup will also be completed.
He told reporters that this is basically the situation in the industry. However, after the large foreign trade goods are shipped, production will continue. Except for some small orders and urgent orders, domestic orders will be the protagonists.
Wu Xiaoming, the person in charge of a sporting goods Co., Ltd. in Yiwu: Generally, domestic orders must be made after October, so there may be a wave of market conditions.
In addition, the reporter also learned that this year's World Cup will be held in winter, which is a good thing for the merchants selling related products in Yiwu, especially those who sell sporting goods, because this time in previous years was the off-season for sales, and now the off-season does not Since the export of World Cup products is busy, domestic sales will be picked up immediately. Starting from December, the traditional peak season of the industry will be ushered in. The hot sales will continue until March-April next year.
(Headquarters CCTV reporter Wang Nan Yiwu station)