In Dongguan, located in the Pearl River Delta, there is a popular saying: "If there is a traffic jam on the highway from Dongguan to Shenzhen, 70% of computer products in the world will be out of stock." Dongguan is the world's largest IT product manufacturer In addition to the base, Dongguan is also world-famous for its leather shoes, furniture, and clothing exports. However, starting from the second half of last year, with the appreciation of the RMB, the adjustment of national export tax rebates, and the sharp rise in raw material prices, Dongguan's export companies have encountered unprecedented pressure.
In March this year, Jinwoniu Industrial Co., Ltd., a well-known export company in Dongguan and "the world's largest supplier of Wal-Mart barbecue grills", announced the suspension of production. The company's boss Zhu Shanbao was in arrears due to unpaid wages to employees and suppliers. The payment for goods, bank loan arrears, and tax arrears disappeared for a time. After learning the news, we tried every means to contact the remaining employees of the company, trying to find out the crux of the export company's problems with this export company that was heavily in debt and had an uncertain future. Today, we will find out with reporters.
1. The prone "Jinwo Niu"
After several contacts, the reporter met Lu Malu, the general manager of Jinwo Niu who stayed behind to deal with the aftermath. He just rushed back to Guangdong from Wuhan. Lu Malu was originally an ordinary administrative staff member of Jinwo Niu Company. One month after the factory stopped production, he was promoted to the general manager of Jinwo Niu Company. This trip to Wuhan was because the company defaulted on payment from two local suppliers.
Lu Malu told reporters: "One of them has more than 20 million (payment), more than 21 million. He hopes that we can pay it back before next month, and then the pressure will not be so great. We We are still talking to him.”
On the way to Dongguan Jinwo Niu Company, Lu Malu told reporters that Zhu Shanbao, the chairman of Jinwo Niu, would contact him individually every day. It is indeed difficult for other employees and hundreds of suppliers in the factory to find Zhu Shanbao. "It is true that you can't see the chairman during this period. But he is in contact with me every day. With so many managers, including some suppliers, it is not easy for them to find the boss. This is true. Because during that period It is a critical moment for the life and death of the entire company. "Why do you say that?" "Because the choice is to go bankrupt or continue to operate." Jin Woniu made Zhu Shanbao difficult to decide. What kind of predicament did they get into? What caused Jin Wo Niu to collapse so quickly? With all kinds of questions, the reporter came to Jinwo Niu's factory in Qingxi Town, Dongguan City. In the assembly workshop, the reporter saw that the power had been cut off. The equipment and semi-finished products on the production line had been taken preservation measures by the court and were not allowed to be sold or transferred. .
Here the reporter met Zheng Xiantao, director of the office of Jinwo Niu Industrial Company. "How many workers are needed for production in a workshop like this?" "At the busiest time, it has 500 people. Normally, it is around 300 people. In the previous stage, before it was disbanded and stopped production, it was about 200 people. "Where are these workers now?" "These workers have all gone home after receiving their wages."
The reporter saw that the company provided facilities for employees behind the factory. The dormitory building is now empty. “It’s all empty now?” “It’s empty and no one lives there.” “Where are the workers working here?” “There are more in Anhui, followed by Hubei, Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. , Hunan, there are very few people in Guangdong. ""Most of them are from the mainland?"" After the production was stopped, the workers were sent back to their hometowns, and a few were not. Those who are willing to leave Dongguan are still waiting here. Many people choose to avoid facing the camera. After some twists and turns, a young man from Nanyang, Henan finally agreed to say a few words. He is Xu Qingyong, the former deputy workshop director of Jinwo Niu Industrial Company. "If the factory does not stop production, people's hearts will still be stable. Now that you have stopped production, they don't know what to do next, so (workers) hope to get their wages, leave when it's time, and let me do business when it's time to leave." You have to do whatever you want to do in business, right? I'll find another way out. You tell me what your next step is, and no one can see the next step. But with the current situation, no one dares to estimate the next step. So optimistic, right?”
Xiao Xu told reporters that before Jinwo Niu stopped production, the company had already owed wages to all employees, including General Manager Lu Malu, and some employees were even owed wages. 20 months’ salary.
"You were the deputy director of the workshop in the factory. How much was your monthly salary at that time?" "More than four thousand yuan." "More than four thousand yuan. At that time, how much was the highest salary you were owed?" "A little over 40,000." "Nearly ten months?" "Ten months."
Lu Malu also lives in this dormitory building. At his home, the reporter saw Lumalu’s employee salary passbook, which was also the only proof of wages being owed. "Starting from October 12, 2006, this part of the salary has been deposited into the company's escrow." "From the display here, you are the salary for August and signed in on October 24." "Yes. "Yes, yes." "The salary for September was signed on December 7th?" "The company's capital flow was already in trouble at that time?" "It was a difficult period. "
Lu Malu told reporters that since 2006, workers have rarely received their wages on time, which also indicates that the company's performance has begun to decline. In order to solve the problem, the company tried to borrow several million yuan from the local town government for emergency relief. At present, he is the only company's top management who has not received his salary back. Not only that, things that gave the left-behind personnel headaches happened one after another.
After learning that General Manager Lu Malu had returned to the company, staff from the local court came one after another. This court summons just received is a lawsuit caused by the company's default in gas bills. In addition to supplier payments, Jinwo Niu also needs to repay bank loans and taxes payable. "How much are your total assets now?" "Probably around 450 million." "How are the liabilities structured now?" "We mainly focus on the suppliers for the company's liabilities, and the suppliers' liabilities are divided into three categories. Some range from more than a thousand yuan to 12 million, and the total number is around 500 suppliers’ creditors. “What is the total debt owed by the suppliers?” “According to the company’s calculations, The report shows that the supplier's debt is about 230 million. "
According to Jinwoniu Company's statistics, their current asset-liability ratio is as high as 95%, and they are on the verge of bankruptcy. Now every day there are debt collectors blocking the door of office buildings. The reporter met one of them here. "What raw materials are provided to them?" "Screws." "How many years have you been supplying here?" "You have been supplying them for 3 or 4 years." "It has been 3 or 4 years. How much money do you owe now?" "More than 600,000."
Lu Malu said: "It's more to inquire about some of the company's conditions. Basically, there are several batches every day, even several batches a day, three or four batches, yes. "What issue are they most concerned about?" "It's because of some of the company's plans. Some suppliers may not believe that your entire company is running well. Why? Production came to a halt within a short period of time."
2. Who knocked down "Jinwo Niu"
From 2004 to 2005, Jinwo Niu Company produced 4.5 million different units. Models of barbecue grills are sold overseas, and these products bearing Jinwoniu's independent trademark are exported to five countries: the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Nowadays, Made In China's barbecue grills can only lie quietly in the finished product warehouse, not knowing what fate they will face tomorrow.
The reporter met Zheng Xiantao, director of the company’s office, in Jinwo Niu’s final assembly workshop. "If these products are finished, where are they originally going to be sent?" "This is sent to the United States, Europe and the United States." "How much should one sell for?" "Probably around four hundred dollars, this It’s a relatively high-end stove. “It’s relatively high-end. How high is the profit?” “The profit is not clear, but the profit is still considerable. Our current profits are mainly based on this high-end product.”
As Zheng Xiantao said, Jinwo Niu, founded in 1992, is growing day by day by relying on export orders. Starting from the initial charcoal and gas barbecue stoves, Jinwo Niu has grown to have 7 Factory, 2 trading companies. At its peak, it covered an area of ??550,000 square meters, a construction area of ??450,000 square meters, and 4,200 employees. It was the largest taxpayer in Qingxi Town and one of the "Top 50 Private Enterprises in Dongguan". In the past thirteen years, all the barbecue grills produced by this company were exported. At its peak, annual sales reached US$150 million, and two million barbecue grills were exported to world retail giants such as Wal-Mart and B&Q every year.
In the sample room, Lu Malu introduced to reporters: "This exhibition room displays some samples that are relatively well-sold in North America." "Are these?" "All of these are. "How many kinds of samples are there in the showroom now?" "About seventy kinds are relatively large, and there are more than twenty kinds of small ones, and the total is more than ninety kinds."
In June 2007, Jinwoniu obtained the qualification of Wal-Mart supplier and became the only company in the domestic barbecue grill industry that can directly export products to Wal-Mart. However, the good times did not last long. Just eight months later, Jin Wo Niu had to take the initiative to propose to Wal-Mart to stop supply. Lu Malu explained to reporters: "The main reason is that we did not reach a (unified) opinion in some negotiations with foreign customers around the Spring Festival (about) the issue of raw material price increases. Because we feel that this factory needs to continue to operate. , there must be a profit, and the orders we received were all received in the first half of last year. At the price set at that time, because the price of this raw material has increased significantly, we think there is no way to deliver this product. "< /p>
In the past few years, domestic steel prices have indeed experienced several price surges. Especially in May 2006, the steel price increase of up to 10% is still fresh in many people's memories. Zhang Guangfu, deputy director of Jinwoniu Company's main factory, recalled: "The raw material (price) in our country (prices) increases every year from November to December, especially this year, the increase is the most severe. Doubled, this year they have doubled. Especially ordinary stretched plates and ordinary cold plates are more than 8,000 yuan, at their peak."
In 2008, steel prices have increased again. Once more than people imagined. The reporter inquired about the quotations of steel products on the Guangzhou market. The price of cold-rolled plates, which is in greatest demand in industrial production, ranged from 4,767 yuan/ton on July 13, 2007 to 7,191 yuan/ton on June 5, 2008. It was less than In one year, prices increased by 50.8%.
Lu Malu said: "For the cold-rolled plate we use, more than 55% of the cost of the entire barbecue stove product is composed of the cost of the cold-rolled plate. Like this cold-rolled plate in In 2005, the price was about 3,200 yuan/ton, and the peak this year was 8,500 yuan/ton.”
In the barbecue grill industry, companies like Jinwoniu can design their own. There are not many companies that produce high-end gas barbecue grills and have their own brands. But they still haven't escaped the fate of declining profits and even losing money and shutting down production. In Lumalu's office, a letter of credit for trade settlement caught our attention again.
Lu Malu said: "The amount of this letter of credit is US$4.47 million. When we actually got the money, it should be in April 2008. The price of the product was as early as 2007 It has been determined in April. "In April 2007, you will sign a contract to determine the price of the product. What will the price be based on?" "It will be based on the RMB exchange rate at that time and the price of raw materials at that time." Only with a certain positioning can we determine the unit price of this barbecue grill. "Didn't we consider the expectations? Didn't we consider these changes in the next year?" "This can be said for all domestic and foreign export companies. For import companies, many companies were not prepared for the issue of RMB appreciation in 2007 and 2008, and they felt that it was impossible to say that there would be such a big adjustment in the general environment. "This is something we did not expect."
The product pricing of domestic export companies is usually determined one year in advance. Take the barbecue grill industry as an example. In April and May of each year, Jinwoniu signs supply contracts with overseas retailers such as Wal-Mart and determines a price. From then on until April and May of the next year, each batch of export products will strictly follow this price. . Lu Malu said that there are dozens of domestic companies producing barbecue grills, and in order to compete for overseas orders, there is indeed vicious competition to lower prices with each other. If Jin Wo Niu wants to sign an order, he can only set the price based on a meager profit. In other words, this export contract, which determines product profits for the next year, does not take into account exchange rate changes at all; in other words, an important reason for the Jinwoniu crisis is the company's pricing errors when receiving orders.
Lu Malu said: "This is a shipping schedule from Jinwo Niu General Factory. This shipping schedule covers the period from May 2007 to August 2008. A plan to ship orders based on time, and a plan to ship orders within a season. For a product like 848503, 5,100 units should be shipped in July under normal circumstances, and more than 4,000 units should be shipped in October, until (2008). ) All 10,200 sets will be shipped out in February, but we can see from the order details that some of them are green and have been marked as having been shipped and successfully completed. In December Later, due to the pressure on the company due to rising prices for some raw materials, reduced export tax rebates, and the appreciation of the RMB, the company would no longer be able to deliver the goods as scheduled. What problems will arise if we continue to deliver these goods after the order contract has been made? "We made a rough estimate at that time that our losses for this factory would reach about 50 million yuan before June 2008."
Is the bankruptcy situation that Jin Wo Niu is in a case of poor management of export companies, or is it an existential crisis that affects many companies? After visiting Qingxi, Humen, Houjie and Tangxia towns in Dongguan City, the reporter found that in this major export city, a considerable number of export companies are facing the same crisis as Jinwo Niu.
3. Problems in Dongguan
The reporter in Dongguan learned that many export companies have suffered losses due to various factors such as the appreciation of the renminbi, and some companies have even closed down or gone bankrupt. The situation is that there is such a company around me. Now the factory name has been scratched off, but we can still vaguely see the handwriting of Chenhong Shoes Co., Ltd.
Like many companies in the Pearl River Delta, the factory building is also rented. Now, the factory has collapsed, and the landlord has posted an advertisement for rent. On the way to the interview, we often see advertisements for factory rentals like this. Zheng Xiantao, the office director of Jinwo Niu Company, told us that the situation here is not what it used to be. "It started in the second half of last year, and it became more prominent. We have been here for so many years. I have been here for five or six years. For six years, I have never talked about the collapse of a factory here or a collapse there. The same is true for this factory. Construction continues, and now there are many vacant factories that cannot be rented out. No one comes to rent them.”
Houjie Town, Dongguan City, is home to thousands of large and small outlets. Factory, Zhang Yu, a young man working here, told reporters that several factories have collapsed in the town recently. "This is the newly opened garment factory." "The newly opened garment factory? It was just closed on March 4, 2008." "The factory owner ran away." "The factory owner ran away?" "Yes. After he ran away, the local village committee paid out this part of the employees' wages. "Isn't it true that all the workers didn't get their wages?" "No, they didn't get their wages for several months." ”
In the Dongguan Intermediate People’s Court, Chen Xuejian, the deputy director responsible for the liquidation and execution of bankrupt enterprises, told us that he and his colleagues clearly felt the crisis of export enterprises. "It's obvious. For example, last year we handled a case called Jinwan Plastic Co., Ltd. in Humen Town, Dongguan City. This company used to be very large, with about six or seven thousand employees at its peak. Their factory It should cover an area of ??more than 20 acres. The construction area of ??the factory and dormitory building alone is more than 80,000 square meters. Such a large enterprise did not perform well last year for various reasons. The cases left now are just in our court. There should be more than 240 cases in our Humen Court last year. Our Intermediate People’s Court accepted more than 240 cases. Because our jurisdictions are different, the Intermediate People’s Court should have accepted more than 10 cases. ”
Chen Xuejian took us to this export company in Humen. This is a well-known toy factory in the local area. It also closed down during this export crisis. Because they had no money to pay their bills, hundreds of suppliers took this company to court. The case handled by Chen Xuejian alone has already There are more than 240 cases. “When we came here to seal it, the situation was very chaotic when we came here. "What kind of chaos?" "At that time, I felt very unsure. There were vehicles parked everywhere. There were all vehicles in front of me, and the vehicles were all in a mess, because everyone was in a hurry, and they were all collecting debts from suppliers."
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After the U.S. subprime debt crisis, there are signs of consumption recession in the European and American markets. Export companies such as clothing, footwear, and furniture felt the strongest. Take leather shoes as an example, in the first two months of this year Dongguan exported 35.78 million pairs of leather shoes, a significant decrease of 15.6% compared with the same period last year, of which 14.48 million pairs were exported to the United States, a decrease of 19.7% compared with the same period last year. In order to learn more about the details, we came to Dongguan City. The Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation met with Deputy Director Cai Kang. “It is true that some companies have suffered losses due to this increase in costs. This is also the case. "Have you ever counted how many of our export companies and foreign trade companies have closed down recently due to the influence of these factors, and how many have fallen into lawsuits over debt disputes?" "The bankruptcy and transfer of this enterprise is a relatively complex issue. We can only get to the bottom of it by investigating each enterprise, so it is difficult to form a very accurate figure for this situation." In 2007, we had about 909 foreign-funded enterprises shut down or bankrupt. That is a total number. This total includes those that were transferred to other places. "
Cai Kang told us that in the past year, a series of export policy measures have been introduced to promote corporate transformation and industrial upgrading, which has made life difficult for some low-value-added, labor-intensive export companies." One is to reduce the export tax rebate rate, and the second is to add some goods to the processing trade restricted goods category. In this case, lowering the tax rebate rate will of course directly increase the cost of exports, and the tax rebate rate will decrease. In addition, if this product is added to the restricted category, then according to this regulation, when the company imports raw materials, it must pay a corresponding deposit, which is the deposit in the bank account. This will also squeeze out part of the company's capital operation and increase The severity of its funding backlog. ”
The Dongguan Branch of the Bank of China also provided this set of data to reporters: At present, nearly one-third of the rising export costs of export enterprises in Guangdong Province is caused by the appreciation of the RMB. In 2007, The appreciation of the RMB caused Guangdong Province's general trade exports to lose 19.52 billion yuan, of which private export enterprises lost 9.2 billion yuan. It is estimated that in 2008, Guangdong Province's general trade exports will lose 52.45 billion yuan, of which private export enterprises will lose 25.34 billion yuan.
Cai Kang said: "Why would a factor like RMB appreciation have such a big impact on the exports of this foreign-invested enterprise? Because it is indeed very, very difficult to predict, and many foreign businessmen told us, When negotiating the order price with the customer, there is no way to predict the extent to which the RMB will appreciate at the time of delivery, so the customer will not accept your demand for a price increase, so this is indeed a difficult problem. situation. ”
What impact has the crisis of export companies had on suppliers upstream of the industrial chain? We tried to find the answer among Jinwoniu’s 500 suppliers. However, during the interview, whether it was Jinwoniu, Woniu’s suppliers, as well as many local small factories that supply export companies, were unwilling to face the camera directly. After some setbacks, a Huizhou supplier of accessories for export furniture factories expressed their willingness to be interviewed.
4. A loss-making order
“I moved here from Dongguan in 2006, used the mountain to dig and bulldoze it, and then built my own factory. I couldn’t occupy that farmland. The plan is to develop 20,000 square meters. ”
Zhang Yucai of Huizhou Yuxing Hardware and Woodenware Products Factory has been working in Guangdong from Jiangxi for almost 20 years. Seven years ago, he spent many years of savings to open a hardware and woodenware processing factory to provide local services. Several furniture export companies provide accessories. In Huizhou, he rented 20,000 square meters of mountain land and built a 1,000-square-meter factory. We noticed that only half of the 20,000 square meters of land was leveled, leaving traces on the soil. It can be seen that the infrastructure project has been suspended for some time. When we asked about the reason for the suspension, Zhang Yucai seemed very helpless. "Business used to be very good before 2003, but after the second half of 2003, it has slowed down now." Slowness has been a slippery slope. "Has it been a serious decline during this period?" "The landslide has been severe. The most severe one is from 2007, basically starting in September of 2007 to now. By 2008, up to now, it has reached the most critical period." ”
What Zhang Yucai said is exactly the crisis faced by export companies.
Although competition among peers has been fierce in the past few years, and there have been some foreign anti-dumping investigations from time to time, small factories like theirs have lived relatively well. Zhang Yucai's small factory can receive orders of 600,000 to 700,000 yuan from several big customers every month. According to rough calculation, it can earn more than 50,000 yuan every month. "In the past few years, our (gross profit) was at least a dozen points, 11 or 2 points."
However, in the past year or so, the appreciation of the RMB and the increase in raw material prices have increased in magnitude and speed. It's beyond people's expectations. The current situation of several large furniture export companies that have business dealings with Zhang Yucai is not optimistic. "How many main customers do you have?" "There are eight main customers." "What is the current status of these eight customers?" "Four customers are basically more difficult than my factory." "Compared to your factory. Is it more difficult? "" Two or three have been sold, and the other two are not very good financially and do not pay us the monthly payment on time. "
On the side of the factory, Zhang Yucai told. As soon as our export company goes out of business, the orders we originally placed will be invalidated. The remaining wood and semi-finished products in front of me are all piled here because of this reason. "What is this for?" "This is the backboard of the office chair, and this is the seat. All that's left is the raw materials alone to make the finished product, which cost hundreds of thousands, and the investment in molds cost another hundreds of thousands. It’s been over 200,000 yuan, and it’s been stagnant for almost a year. “Is this the case for everyone?” “Many similar ones, many colleagues have encountered similar (situations). , the customer placed an order for the finished product, and finally he canceled the order, which caused a shortage of funds for small businesses like us. There are various reasons, so it is difficult to maintain this situation. ”
We. During the investigation, we found that although export companies are still placing orders with suppliers, rising costs have turned these orders into hot yams. Zhang Yucai did some calculations: "This is my customer's purchase order. (Model) 10393 board. The cost of the board we bought back is 2020 yuan/cubic meter, plus 6% tax, which is 2020×0.06 equals 121.2 yuan, plus 2020, equals more than 2100 yuan. In addition to the loading and unloading fees of my factory workers, the transportation fee is 18 yuan/cubic meter." "If you calculate it according to this, the cost will be 2,159 yuan. , How much can you sell it for now? ""It costs 2,037.4 yuan/cubic meter to sell to customers, and the cost is 2,159 yuan/cubic meter, which is a loss of 121 yuan."