With the rise in labor costs in China, many chemical manufacturers are struggling, and the increase in tariffs has added to the burden of these chemical companies. The Japanese supply chain is accelerating the withdrawal from China in order to avoid trade wars.
For the overweight confrontation between the Sino-US trade war, is it true that Japanese companies choose to 'can't afford to go home?'
Japanese chemical giant Asahi Kasei decided to move the Chinese factory back to Japan
Taiwanese media quoted Nikkei News as saying that after the US imposed a tax increase on Chinese goods of US$16 billion last Thursday, Japanese chemical giant Asahi Kasei decided to move the Chinese factory back to Japan because the raw materials of the plant were taxed in the US. On the list.
Japanese companies can't afford to go home! Japan's chemical companies have decided to withdraw from China!
The industry believes that Asahi Kasei is one of the world's leading chemical giants. In 1922, Mr. Noguchi became the predecessor of Asahi Kasei, the predecessor of Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd., and later used the Casali process to realize the industrialization of synthetic ammonia for the first time in Japan. The production of the product business has expanded through fields such as caustic soda, liquid chlorine, nitrogen fertilizer, nitrocellulose, industrial explosives, copper ammonia, and viscose filaments, and became one of the largest chemical companies in Japan after the war.
Today, after more than half a century of development, Asahi Kasei has grown into a multinational company based on chemical and materials sciences, involved in products and services in different fields such as synthetic fibers, chemicals, consumer products, building materials, electronics and medical services.
Before 2000, Asahi Kasei's main business was concentrated in Japan. After that, it was plagued by the lack of Japanese resources. At the same time, the direction of domestic consumer demand in Japan changed, and the demand for bulk chemical products was sluggish.
Under the above background, the original scale development encountered bottlenecks. The company turned to the internationalization strategy as a breakthrough direction. With Asia, North America and Europe as the core, about 60 bases in 15 countries around the world actively carry out business and turn some production capacity. Countries with market potential overseas.
Asahi Kasei's company in China is deeply affected by tariffs!
At present, Asahi Kasei has about 35,000 employees worldwide, and Chinese employees account for 10% of its total staff. If Asahi Kasei decides to move the factory back to Japan, thousands of Chinese employees will be affected.
According to public information, Asahi Kasei is a global giant in the chemical industry and a key equipment supplier for chlor-alkali plants. In the high-tech field, the company is the world's largest supplier of lithium battery separators, the world's top 500 companies and Japan's largest integrated group. 1. The annual revenue is 18 billion US dollars. The business covers electronic materials, textiles, chemicals, building materials, microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, medical and other fields.
As a world-class company, Asahi Kasei has invested heavily in China in the past decade. Up to now, Asahi Kasei has 15 wholly-owned subsidiaries in China, including 100% of its wholly-owned subsidiaries and 12 holding subsidiaries. Family.
Japanese companies can't afford to go home! Japan's chemical companies have decided to withdraw from China!
'Komatsu Manufacturing' (Komatsu), 'IrisOhyama' will also withdraw from the factory in China
At the same time, Komatsu, the world's second-largest heavy chemical product manufacturing company, will switch to hydraulic excavator parts in the US, Japan and Mexico, all of which are currently manufactured in China. , and then sent to the United States to assemble. But changing the production plan will make 'Komatsu Manufacturing' an additional $360 billion a year.
'IrisOhyama' plans to transfer air cleaners, electric fans and other electrical appliances sold in the US market from China to a new plant in South Korea and plans to complete it next year. The above products are not yet listed in the US. China's tariff list, but the company is taking steps to prevent risk.
This is a foreign-invested company that has since divested from Japan's optical giant Olympus, the precision electronics company Omron. Although the relationship between the Chinese government and Japan has been repaired, it cannot change the pace of Japanese withdrawal.
Why do Japanese companies have to withdraw their factories?
From the current Sino-US trade industry structure, China's exports to the United States are mainly machinery and equipment (mainly classified as household appliances, electronics, etc., accounting for 48% of total exports) and miscellaneous products (12%), textiles. (10%), metal products (7%), etc.
US exports to China are mainly concentrated in machinery and equipment (30%, mainly capital goods), transportation equipment (20%), chemical products (10%), plastics and rubber products (5%).
From the extent of US sanctions, look at the negative effects of trade friction:
1. The Sino-US steel industry has a strong competitive relationship. The ranking of the industry's negative impact on trade protection is as follows:
Steel>Chemicals>Other Metal Products>Paper Products, Rubber Wood Paper Products, Rubber Wood>Agricultural Products>Electromechanical, Textile and Apparel.
2. From the sensitivity of China's various industries to the US export, based on the proportion of exports, electronic equipment>Machinery>Apparel manufacturing>Metal products>Furniture>Chemicals>Plastic rubber products>Food.
In the unlikely event that the United States launches a comprehensive, non-industry trade war, highly sensitive industries are more affected. Economic prosperity is often accompanied by great inclusiveness and diversity. From this perspective, the withdrawal of foreign capital is not Good thing.
Many manufacturers are struggling with rising labor costs in China
Asahi Kasei is an example: As the world's largest supplier of lithium battery separators, one of the world's top 500 companies and one of Japan's largest integrated groups, Asahi Kasei has invested heavily in China for nearly a decade, covering electronic materials, textiles, Chemicals, building materials, microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, medical and other fields. At present, Asahi Kasei has about 35,000 employees worldwide, and Chinese employees account for 10% of the total number of employees. If Asahi Kasei decides to move the factory back to Japan, it will make a few Thousands of Chinese employees were affected.
There was no winner in the trade war. Last week, US media CNBC interviewed a head of a factory in China, which is export-oriented. He said that he received a letter from the largest customer in the US in early August, and the customer urged him to share 10% of the cost. tariff.
He also revealed that labor costs and raw material costs this year have increased by 15% compared to last year, and US tariffs will affect more than half of his sales. As China's labor costs rise, many manufacturers are struggling, and tariffs The upgrade has added to the burden of these manufacturers.