A pick up of orders at one of the mainland’s largest fairs is good news for carriers.
Twice a year, the city of Guangzhou in southern Guangdong Province puts on the Canton Fair, a gigantic exhibition of goods that is widely regarded as the barometer of China’s exports industry.
The fair attracts buyers from around the world who come to shop among the tens of thousands of exporters displaying their products at booths in giant halls and across multiple levels.
Every conceivable item is on display, from consumer electronics to household items, from construction machinery to garments, chemicals and office supplies.
The autumn installment of the fair was held last month, with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce loudly proclaiming the event a success with a rise in new orders signaling an export recovery.
True, there was an increase in new orders, up 16 percent over the Canton Fair held in the spring, but that needs to be viewed in context. The spring fair was a complete disaster, held at the height of the global meltdown when exports from China had ground to a halt.
Even with the rise in orders, the last month’s fair is still 3.4 percent behind last year’s autumn fair.
The orders will not be reflected in the current shipping season, so while it is indeed a barometer of the country’s exports sector, the orders are more of an indication of first quarter growth.
But there is increasing activity at ports in China as we head towards the final month of the year, and export volumes are rising, albeit slowly, especially at the northern ports of Shanghai, Dalian, Qingdao and Tianjin. Analysts are divided over whether the rising throughput is a result of increased domestic spending driven by the massive stimulus package handed out by Beijing, or an increase in orders from overseas.
Ports in the north traditionally handle more domestic trade than those in Shenzhen, which predominantly ship consumer items for export.
But whatever the reason is for the rising port throughput, the industry is nervously contemplating the slack season and holding thumbs that the drop off in volumes from this month is not too steep or too long. News of the surge in orders from the Canton Fair will go a long way towards easing troubled minds.