PIERS Offers Exclusive Research Into China's Impact on the Manufacturing Exports of Other Developing Nations

NEWARK, N.J., March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- PIERS, the Standard in Trade Intelligence, is pleased to offer a one of a kind report that examines China's waning strength in labor-intensive exports like furniture, apparel and footwear, and its impact on other developing countries.

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The report illustrates how rising wages and labor shortages in China are prompting factory owners to relocate facilities inland or in many cases flee to other developing countries where wages are lower or competitive, and supply of unskilled and semi-skilled workers is abundant. To isolate developing countries most exposed to this trend, this report identifies 13 countries for which manufacturing represents more than 15% of their GDP and wages are lower than in China or globally competitive.

"China's strength in labor-intensive export manufacturing is waning as factory wages rise at a double-digit pace and labor shortages deepen. A rising Yuan does not help the situation either," said Mario O. Moreno, Author of the report and Staff Economist for PIERS/The Journal of Commerce.  "It is becoming increasingly clear that a new trend is developing in the sourcing shares of these labor-intensive goods."

The results suggest that China's declining dominance in labor-intensive exports is benefiting some developing economies more than others, while a few appear to not be benefiting at all. Countries examined in this report include: Vietnam, Mexico, India, Thailand, Brazil, Honduras, El Salvador, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Poland, Philippines and Cambodia.

Key findings include:

• Favorable trade conditions and geographic proximity with Central American countries have led to growth rates of U.S. apparel imports that significantly outpaced that of China, in part because shortened transit time is particularly important to shippers of apparel.
• Lower wages and favorable exchange rates in recent years have given Vietnam an advantage over China in the footwear and apparel sector, leading to an increase in market share of U.S. imports in both of these sectors.
• While Poland represents a relatively small share of the global furniture market, significant currency depreciation against the U.S. dollar has resulted in a compound annual growth rate of U.S. furniture imports of 19.6% from 2001 through 2011.

Download your complimentary copy of China's Impact on the Manufacturing Exports of Other Developing Countries to gain a better understanding of how these trends effect other developing nations and the global supply chain.

About PIERS
PIERS is the most comprehensive database of U.S. waterborne trade activity in the world providing information services to thousands of subscribers globally. Launched more than 35 years ago, PIERS was the first venture in digital global trade intelligence and quickly became the industry standard for accuracy, reliability and insight. Our unique infrastructure and proprietary technology allow us to not only publish U.S. import data, but also complete coverage of U.S. export transactions. PIERS is a division of UBM Global Trade, and a sister company of The Journal of Commerce.  For more information, visit www.piers.com.

SOURCE PIERS