Products from Asia - Buy Now or ...

The following article, excerpted from BusinessWeek, is yet another indicator that our rechargeable toys from Asia are going to keep getting more expensive and harder to find, especially over the near term:

China: An Olympic Loss for Industry

Strict limits on production during the Games will be felt across the Mainland and by consumers abroad

by Dexter Roberts and Chi-Chu Tschang

Beijing - Hebei Taihang Cement has been on a roll lately. Its three Beijing plants have been running around the clock, churning out thousands of tons of cement needed to build venues such as the "Bird's Nest" stadium, where opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympic Games will be held on Aug. 8.

But the good times may be about to end. .................

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Re: Products from Asia - Buy Now Or ...

Ah I wondered when this would make the news - They have been talking about shutting off pollutants for a while now and my immediate thought was what about the stuff that the factories make and the lorries move.
Looks like dealextreme and others shipping will take a lot longer...

Most of the major Chinese flashlight producers are based in or around the province of Guangdong in China's south, which is a couple thousand kilometres from Beijing which is located in the north. They are unlikely to be impacted by production restrictions in the provinces closest to Beijing.

I'm no economist, but I'd be more concerned about the steadily rising USD to CNY exchange rate, which since it was deregulated has gone up by more than 20%. The net result is that an item produced in China that used to cost $100 US 3 years ago now costs $121.30. On the other hand, here in Australia, the cost of purchasing Chinese goods has acually dropped somewhat over the same time period due to our own improved dollar. The same can be said for the Euro vs CNY. This will likely result in increased European and Australian investment in China, at the same time as the USA is looking for other semi-industrialised places with currently weak economies to produce their goods. I seem to recall something about increasing investment in some African countries, as well as smaller countries around Asia.

Regards,
Eric

I'd heard about this before, but just thought of another side-effect that I hadn't before: What about all the Chinese people who work at the plants/factories that are being shut down for several months? Is this going to be a 'paid vacation' or an 'unpaid vacation', or what?

Aluminous said:

I'd heard about this before, but just thought of another side-effect that I hadn't before: What about all the Chinese people who work at the plants/factories that are being shut down for several months? Is this going to be a 'paid vacation' or an 'unpaid vacation', or what?

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Its 400-plus employees will busy themselves with training courses and equipment repairs, and Taihang will see its cement output fall this year by 500,000 tons, or 9% of its annual capacity.

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I would imagine similar policy is in place, the last thing the government want would be a bunch of unemployeed people protest in beijing.

Citivolus said:

On the other hand, here in Australia, the cost of purchasing Chinese goods has acually dropped somewhat over the same time period due to our own improved dollar. The same can be said for the Euro vs CNY. This will likely result in increased European and Australian investment in China.

Regards,
Eric

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And the Canadian dollar aswell. Today our dollar is worth more than any other dollar (than I know of) ..although not by much, google says:

"1 Canadian dollar = 1.000801 U.S. dollars"
"1 Canadian dollar = 1.02772756 Australian dollars"

I remember a few years ago when our dollar was only ~$0.60USD, didn't order much from the states back then. Sure do now though

jzmtl said:

Its 400-plus employees will busy themselves with training courses and equipment repairs, and Taihang will see its cement output fall this year by 500,000 tons, or 9% of its annual capacity.

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I would imagine similar policy is in place, the last thing the government want would be a bunch of unemployeed people protest in beijing.

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Thanks for the info... yeah, it would've been just trading one problem for another

Hmmm....for months and years now the theme is "too much stuff from China"...now we are going to complain that we can't get enough stuff from China??? (Not a dig at the OP, but definitely a dig at US consumer culture.)

China's been seemingly making up rules on the spot lately.

About 6 weeks ago we had a shipment of NiMh batteries that our forwarder couldn't get out of the Beijing area because the government decided they were dangerous goods (DG) and DG are prohibited for transport via Air or Ocean from Beijing ports until after the olympics. Of course NiMh cells are not DG's and it took us until yesterday to get them released for ocean transport, not fun since we had to pay for the 6 weeks ago.

Last week we got a very large order for Titanium CR123A from a client but they needed more than we could supply within their time frame. Normally we would just fly them in and the customer would pay the added transport costs but as of 2 weeks ago lithium batteries, which are DG, cannot be exported from ANYWHERE in China until the Olympics are over.

MattK said:

China's been seemingly making up rules on the spot lately.

About 6 weeks ago we had a shipment of NiMh batteries that our forwarder couldn't get out of the Beijing area because the government decided they were dangerous goods (DG) and DG are prohibited for transport via Air or Ocean from Beijing ports until after the olympics. Of course NiMh cells are not DG's and it took us until yesterday to get them released for ocean transport, not fun since we had to pay for the 6 weeks ago.

Last week we got a very large order for Titanium CR123A from a client but they needed more than we could supply within their time frame. Normally we would just fly them in and the customer would pay the added transport costs but as of 2 weeks ago lithium batteries, which are DG, cannot be exported from ANYWHERE in China until the Olympics are over.

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That "dangerous goods shipping prohibited till after the Olympics" thing caused a reduced supply and increased prices of consumer fireworks this year (iirc, about 80% of the consumer fireworks used in the US come from China). Lithium batteries are more 'dangerous' than alkaline/nimh, but I don't think they're comparable to fireworks. I understand the fireworks restrictions, but these battery restrictions seem a bit excessive (particularly since the Olympics aren't actually going on yet).

Unfortunately that's the way it works in china, everyone in office is enjoying his power a bit too much and just had to use it to the fullest extend, either doing BS like this to make their record look good to his superiors, or screwing the people to show who's the boss.

MattK said:

China's been seemingly making up rules on the spot lately.

About 6 weeks ago we had a shipment of NiMh batteries that our forwarder couldn't get out of the Beijing area because the government decided they were dangerous goods (DG) and DG are prohibited for transport via Air or Ocean from Beijing ports until after the olympics. Of course NiMh cells are not DG's and it took us until yesterday to get them released for ocean transport, not fun since we had to pay for the 6 weeks ago.

Last week we got a very large order for Titanium CR123A from a client but they needed more than we could supply within their time frame. Normally we would just fly them in and the customer would pay the added transport costs but as of 2 weeks ago lithium batteries, which are DG, cannot be exported from ANYWHERE in China until the Olympics are over.

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MattK said:

China's been seemingly making up rules on the spot lately.

About 6 weeks ago we had a shipment of NiMh batteries that our forwarder couldn't get out of the Beijing area because the government decided they were dangerous goods (DG) and DG are prohibited for transport via Air or Ocean from Beijing ports until after the olympics. Of course NiMh cells are not DG's and it took us until yesterday to get them released for ocean transport, not fun since we had to pay for the 6 weeks ago.

Last week we got a very large order for Titanium CR123A from a client but they needed more than we could supply within their time frame. Normally we would just fly them in and the customer would pay the added transport costs but as of 2 weeks ago lithium batteries, which are DG, cannot be exported from ANYWHERE in China until the Olympics are over.

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So does this mean.... DX and KD are currently not allowed to ship Lith Ion cells?... 16340, 18650, 14500...etc... ?

I don't understand... how does the lock down of DGs OUT of china increase safety? I can see preventing them from coming in... but outgoing?

I don't want to comment on other retailers practices but there and have been transport restrictions on mailed Lithium products for many years.

Good are most often damaged in handling. Planes have the most problems taking off and landing, etc. The Chinese Govt. doesn't want even the potential for public relations issues.

MattK said:

Last week we got a very large order for Titanium CR123A from a client but they needed more than we could supply within their time frame. Normally we would just fly them in and the customer would pay the added transport costs but as of 2 weeks ago lithium batteries, which are DG, cannot be exported from ANYWHERE in China until the Olympics are over.

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Don't get too frustrated, Matt.

I'm sure that when the Olympics are over, and China is done putting on a show for the rest of the world; everything will go back to "normal."

No doubt you're right but not being able to come through for an existing customer on a very large order is really frustrating.