Since the beginning of this year, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the shortage of energy supply and high inflation, the exchange rate of the euro has continued to weaken. After the euro-dollar exchange rate once fell below the 1:1 mark on July 12, the euro-dollar exchange rate fell below 1:1 again on August 23, and the lowest fell to 1:0.9934, a new low in 20 years.
A weaker euro means EU countries have to spend more to import essential goods from around the world. As one of the most important trading partners of the EU, China's foreign trade enterprises are the market players most directly affected by exchange rate changes. A reporter from the International Business Daily learned in the interview that many foreign trade companies were coerced into it. The heads of many companies said that "the depreciation of the euro has affected the export orders and profits of enterprises" and "caused some customers to delay orders".
However, in the face of challenges, foreign trade enterprises did not sit still. Many enterprises actively accelerated their transformation and upgrading, further optimized and enhanced the high added value of their products, expanded the market, and stabilized orders.
European orders slip or delay
Shandong Enlad Industrial Co., Ltd. is an enterprise that has been deeply involved in the field of shoemaking for many years. Its products are mainly exported to Denmark, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, France and other European countries.
"The depreciation of the euro has led to lower consumption levels in Europe, and the energy crisis has reduced market demand in European countries, which has greatly affected the company's export orders and profits. The short-term impact is obvious." Dong Fengli, chairman of the company, told a reporter from the International Business Daily. exclaimed.
This round of depreciation of the euro has caused quite a shock to European customers. Dong Fengli said: "At present, customers are more conservative in placing orders, and tend to place small orders frequently, instead of stockpiling large quantities of goods as before. Orders tend to be small, and orders are made as they are sold, and there is basically no overstocking, so orders are getting smaller and smaller. Big orders are getting fewer and fewer.”
Dong Changhe, general manager of Shanghai Beishi Electric Co., Ltd., also felt the same way as Dong Fengli: "Currently, the company's foreign trade business is locked in US dollars. The impact of the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar means that European customers have to pay more for each order. This leads to delays in placing orders for some customers, which is not good for our export companies."
At the same time, foreign trade companies have recently felt the pressure on exports brought about by the rise in shipping prices and the uncertainty of logistics, as well as the weakening of the European consumer market.
The person in charge of a toy company in Zhejiang revealed to the International Business Daily reporter: "The shipping freight has dropped a little compared to the peak period, but shipping to Europe is still affected by factors such as geographical conflicts, the decline is small, and the cost is not stable. This year, the order volume of European customers is higher than that of European customers. Last year, it dropped significantly, and some customers asked us to cut prices because they could not afford the rising costs. These all squeezed the export profits of small and medium-sized enterprises.”
Enterprises speed up transformation and upgrading to actively respond
Facing the turbulent external environment, stabilizing orders has become the primary task of foreign trade companies. Many foreign trade enterprises have accelerated their transformation and upgrading, and further optimized and enhanced the added value of their products. A series of new business formats and new kinetic energy have emerged, which has also given new endogenous power to China's foreign trade.
"Only products with high added value can gain a firm foothold in the fierce international market competition and resist risks." In Dong Changhe's view, this is the magic weapon for companies to win, "Although the depreciation of the euro has a certain impact on European customers, we found that , the market demand for mid-to-high-end products has risen instead of falling. For example, the company developed an arc detection and protector product applied to the field of fire safety last year, and orders in the European and South American markets have increased. Recently, Poland, Sweden, Portugal, etc. Customers in China have seen a large increase in the order volume this year, and customers have a certain profit margin to offset the risk of currency depreciation."
With the further reduction of global carbon emissions, the electrification of transportation has become the general trend, and it also brings new opportunities for enterprises. According to Dong Changhe, the company keeps up with market demand, innovates and continuously upgrades new energy-related products. Last year, it launched the second-generation column-type card-swipeable charging pile, adding protection functions such as lightning protection, overvoltage and overcurrent, and the products are popular among European customers. Favored, rising demand in the Norwegian market.
As a traditional enterprise, Enlad chooses to respond to changes in the international market by accelerating transformation and upgrading and realizing the conversion of old and new kinetic energy.
"At present, the homogenization of domestic footwear products, the same level of enterprises, and the conceptualization of functions have seriously restricted the expansion of the international market by the Chinese footwear industry." Dong Fengli not only saw the problem, but also found the reason, and gave a solution: for the traditional Industry value, empowering traditional models.
To this end, Enlad has established 3 shoe-making research institutes and invested more than 30 million yuan to develop a multifunctional healthy shoe with 38 patents (including 5 domestic and foreign invention patents), which has strong competition in the international market force.
This year, facing the current situation of poor exports, Dong Fengli said that the company will continue to work hard on functions and health, and continue to develop and improve on the basis of air circulation, shock absorption, and magnetic therapy to meet the diverse needs of customers. At the same time, it has transformed from a single foreign trade e-commerce platform to a multi-platform coordinated development to expand the number of customers.
"From the current point of view, the export orders in the second half of the year will increase compared with the first half of the year." Dong Fengli expects that by enhancing the competitiveness of products, the company's order volume in the second half of the year can make new breakthroughs.