More signs that the era of ‘cheap’ Chinese manufacturing is on the wane. See – https://chindia-alert.org/2012/04/26/china-offshores-manufacturing-to-the-u-s/
“Zhu Shanqing, who owns a yarn-spinning factory in Hangzhou in China\’s Zhejiang province, is struggling with rising costs for labor, energy and land. So he is boxing up some of his spindles and moving.
To South Carolina.
Mr. Zhu is one of a growing number of Asian textile manufacturers setting up production in the U.S. Southeast to save money as salaries, energy and other costs rise at home. His company, Keer Group Co., has agreed to invest $218 million to build a factory in unincorporated Lancaster County, not far from Charlotte, N.C. The new plant will pay half as much as Mr. Zhu does for electricity in China and get local government support, he says. Keer expects to create at least 500 jobs.
There is another benefit. As costs continue to increase in China, Keer can ship yarn to manufacturers in Central America, which, unlike companies in China, can send finished clothes duty-free to the U.S.
The move by Mr. Zhu and others will scarcely revive a once bustling Southern textile industry. But it illustrates how shifts in global trade are creating advantages for U.S.-based manufacturing.
China Real Time
Why One Chinese Textile Maker Sees His Future in the U.S.
\”We are on the leading edge of a mature cycle\” with rising costs pushing Asian companies to consider moving to the U.S., said Robert Hitt III, South Carolina\’s commerce secretary.
In October, Mumbai-based ShriVallabh Pittie Group announced it would build a $70 million yarn operation in rural Sylvania, Ga., bringing 250 jobs. The company wants to avoid paying U.S. duties and to secure \”cheap, plentiful and importantly reliable\” energy, crucial in yarn production yet erratic in India, said Zulfiqar Ramzan, vice president for international development. Yarn spinning runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for most of the year, and any energy disruptions cause substantial delays and waste, he said.
In April, Alok Industries, 521070.BY +1.88% another Mumbai textiles producer, said it would build a yarn-spinning factory in the South, though it hasn\’t said where. The company expects to save on duties by making yarn in the U.S. and pay less than 10% of what it pays for energy in India, said Chief Executive Arun Agarwal.
In September, JN Fibers Inc. of China agreed to build a $45 million plant in South Carolina that turns plastic bottles into polyester fibers used to stuff pillows and furniture. That investment is expected to create 318 jobs. Development officials in South Carolina and Georgia say more Asian textile manufacturers have contacted them this year.”
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 