Rising Raw Materials Prices Taking Hold in China

By Jim.Robinson|November 23, 2010

If China’s 108th Canton Fair is any indication, rising raw material costs are finally starting to take their toll on clothing and apparel manufacturers. The majority of goods at the event–also known as the China Import and Export Fair–were priced about 30 percent higher than they were last year, resulting in a lower number of transactions for buyers and sellers.

The Canton Fair, which concluded on Nov. 4, covered more than 1.1 million square meters and included 3,936 companies (up from 3,883 last year), including 8,441 exhibitor booths. There were almost 200,000 buyers from 208 countries in attendance, down 2.3 percent from the previous year. The top five countries with the highest number of buyers were: Hong Kong SAR with 26,691; the United States with 11,650; Taiwan with 8,686; Iran with 6,786; and Russia with 6,549. There were 64,631 new buyers at the Canton Fair (accounting for 32.4% of the total overseas buyers) and were 134,635 buyers who had attended previous Canton fairs, accounting for 67.6% of the total (an increase of 2.6% over 2009).

Interestingly, the amount of business being conducted online is on the rise. There were more than 120 million hits on the Canton Fair’s official Web site, a 1.1 percent increase over the previous year. The amount of goods actually purchased over the Internet took a much bigger jump, however, reaching a total of almost $47 million, an 8.3 percent increase over the previous year.

The dates for the 109th Canton Fair have been set and the event will be held in three stages. Phase One will be April 15-19, 2011; Phase Two will be April 23-27; and Phase Three will be May 1-5. The venue is the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou. For more information, please visit the official Web site of the Canton Fair.