Market Changes in Raw Materials Accelerate the Transformation of Lighter
Manufacturing Enterprises in Zhejiang
BEIJING, July 15 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Regional market analysts from
Tootoo.com said that 860,000 SMEs in Zhejiang province, China, have recently
entered into a state of crisis, fighting for their very survival, due to the
rising costs of raw materials, the appreciation of the RMB and other market
changes. Among them, the labor-intensive enterprises, especially lighter
manufacturing plants are in serious trouble because of non-ferrous metal
prices climbing and human resources costs increasing.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080605/CNTH022LOGO )
Editors from the non-ferrous metal industry channel of Tootoo.com (
http://news.tootoo.com/Minerals/Metal/ ) interviewed a manager from one of the
struggling lighter companies, who said that his factory had just received a
two million unit lighter order from a foreign company, with each sale price
being a mere USD0.92. And, although the profit was just a few cents per
lighter, the manager had to accept. It is hard to get an order like this,
since less than 100 plants among more than 500 lighter manufacturers in
Wenzhou can start production.
Wenzhou is China's metal lighter manufacturing base, home to companies
like Wenzhou Lucheng Yikang Lighter Factory ( http://www.tootoo.com/d-
c3130483-Wenzhou_Lucheng_Yikang_Lighter_Factory/ ), who shares 70 percent of
global lighter market. However, lighter exports have dropped sharply since
last year, by reason of the increasing prices of plastics, chemical raw
materials and non-ferrous metal alloys such as copper and zinc, as well as the
appreciation of the RMB.
Therefore, local lighter manufacturing plants are eyeing high value-added
products to replace the traditional products. In the interview, the manager
told editors of Tootoo.com that they have just developed "hurricane lamp
lighters", which can be used at altitudes of up to 2,500 meters. Seizing the
market blind spots, the product, which is exported to countries that include
Mexico and Colombia, brought back a large number of orders. Developing high-
end lighters and industrial upgrading is currently the way out for the Wenzhou
lighter industry ( http://www.tootoo.com/w-Gifts_Crafts/ ).
Analysis of exports from Tootoo.com highlight that the cost of the
traditional lighter has increased by 20 percent, as raw materials and labor
costs continue to rise, which brings almost no profit. In contrast, the
profits of the "hurricane lamp lighters"
( http://www.tootoo.com/buy-wenzhou_lighters/) are as high as 40 percent, with
the same increases in costs.
To this end, the Zhejiang government has decided to open up the
international and domestic markets to broaden financing channels and to take
various measures to help the enterprises out of this slump. Not long ago, in
the "government-enterprise interaction" services, the relevant departments of
the Wenzhou government listed the difficulties encountered by the lighter
industry into the response program.
For more information, please contact:
TooToo.com
Tel: +86-10-9510-5561
Fax: +86-10-6584-9900
Email: service@tootoo.com
Address: 19th Floor, Block One, Majestic Towers,
Gongti Dong Road, Beijing, 100020 China
Post Code: 100020
SOURCE Tootoo.com
TooToo.com, Tel: +86-10-9510-5561, or Fax: +86-10-6584-9900, or
service@tootoo.com, or Address: 19th Floor, Block One, Majestic Towers, Gongti
Dong Road, Beijing, 100020 China
