Lu Jun runs an audio product company in Shenzhen. 90% of the company's orders are export orders, mainly to Europe, America, Japan and South Korea.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the demand for many audio products has flooded into China, because the speed of resumption of work and production in China is obviously faster than the world average. The company's warehouse is full of products that will be delivered soon. Near the end of the year, everyone is busy working overtime. Lu Jun told reporters that their orders had been placed by the end of April this year.
Lu Jun said that customers' orders poured in, and the delivery date was basically three months later. Orders will increase by about 100% in 2020.
Although the order volume has soared, their income is not as rich as expected. The main reason is the recent sharp appreciation of RMB.
"On June 8, 2020, 10, when we opened a US dollar account, the exchange rate dropped from 6.8 to 6.6. For us, it may have evaporated hundreds of thousands overnight. " Lu Jun said.
Also troubled by the rising exchange rate is Li Hongxi, whose company is engaged in cross-border electronic commerce business. These days, he is worried about paying employees' salaries because there is not much RMB on the company's books.
On May 27th, 2020, the exchange rate of offshore RMB against the US dollar began to "counterattack" from the year low of 7. 1954, and this trend has not stopped since it entered 202 1. On the first working day of the new year, the central parity rate of RMB against the US dollar was reported at 6.5408; On June 65438+1October 1 1, the central parity of RMB against the US dollar was reported at 6.4764. Li Hongxi calculated an account, and now he has converted 654.38+million dollars, which is 70,000 to 80,000 yuan less than that in June last year.
Foreign trade enterprises should adapt to the situation and survive.
Foreign trade enterprises often produce in China, order from overseas and collect US dollars, but they need to use RMB for purchasing materials and labor costs. The exchange rate continues to rise, and exchange of foreign exchange has become a thing that constantly devours profits. How to reduce the impact of exchange rate on profits? Foreign trade enterprises have their own "tricks".
On the first working day of 202 1, Lu Jun's most important task was to re-determine the order price. Because orders are denominated in dollars, but the purchase of raw materials needs RMB. In order to reduce losses, Lu Jun and his colleagues in sales and finance made four or five plans. The important basis for them to decide the price increase of products is the exchange rate expectation of 202 1.
In addition to adjusting the order price to hedge the exchange rate risk, some foreign trade enterprises have also changed the prescription of order quotation, shortening it from the previous year to half a year or even three months. Although this may lead to the weakening of customers' confidence in the enterprise, it is imperative to ensure profits in the case of such drastic fluctuations in the exchange rate.
In addition, some enterprises are still trying to change the payment method and pay dollars to suppliers such as raw materials to avoid losses caused by foreign exchange.
Foreign trade enterprises urgently need financial talents.
The change of exchange rate leads to a great decrease in corporate profits, but the rise of prices will greatly reduce the competitiveness of products, so financial instruments that can stabilize exchange rate fluctuations at this time have become a good choice. How much can these "financial instruments" play in practical application? Can you really help these foreign trade enterprises?
The reporter learned in the interview that many banks have foreign exchange service products, which can help enterprises avoid exchange rate risks. Some banks said that with the rise of RMB exchange rate, more and more enterprises came to consult the exchange rate risk management business, and they expected to lock the exchange rate as soon as possible to reduce the loss of foreign exchange settlement caused by the rapid appreciation of RMB.
Strong exports have also given birth to more demand for exchange rate hedging by import and export enterprises. Locking foreign exchange is the most common operation for import and export enterprises to deal with exchange rate fluctuations.
Yang Delong, chief economist of Qianhai Kaiyuan, said that foreign trade enterprises generally hedge forward exchange rate fluctuations through forward exchange rate contracts. Because it may take some time for many enterprises to collect money, it is unpredictable how the exchange rate will fluctuate in the future.
However, the reporter found in the interview that there are still many small foreign trade enterprises that have not hedged the exchange rate.
Li Hongxi said frankly: "After all, we are a cross-border e-commerce enterprise. Products are sold to consumers one by one, and orders are received again. Not traditional foreign trade. If there were no big orders and FOB, we wouldn't have these things. "
In addition to feeling unhelpful, many enterprises are also worried that the use of financial instruments may affect the cash flow of enterprises.
Cao Zhifeng, CEO of a technology company in Shenzhen, said: "We are also talking with banks, including T+ 1, to lock foreign exchange, because enterprises are facing cash flow problems. At present, this part is not very helpful. We mainly seek the understanding of suppliers and customers. "
Some enterprises also said that they need to use financial instruments to avoid exchange rate risks, but due to the lack of professionals, enterprises will be at a loss in specific operations.
Lu Jun said: "If we can have talents in this field, it may be more beneficial for us to give us some suggestions and directly operate in the opposite direction in the foreign exchange market or operate options. This is also a homework that we have to make up next. "