THE CHINESE HAMMOCK PRODUCERS´S PROBLEMS

THE CHINESE HAMMOCK PRODUCERS´S PROBLEMS

 Since this current international , economical crisis that started in 2008, Brazilian hammock exports have shrunk to 90% from its previous exporting capacity. In order to keep their business more competitive ,traditional hammock importers in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia started then to seek other traditional hammock producing sources that offered their products at rather lower prices than those ones practiced by Brazilian exporters. Then they went to Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, San Salvador, Mexico, India and CHINA.

 The problem, however, is that Brazilian hammocks are different in colors, sizing, raw-material , styling,finishing etc.from those hammocks produced in other South American and Central American countries and in other countries, as well. . Then , importers found a rather convenient option: CHINA, that has the worst reputation of copying all kinds of products that are only attractive for their low prices , not for their poor quality Traditional importers then went to China to look for entrepreneurs interested in copying Brazilian hammocks. There they found some small, backyard hammock makers that had been producing some hammocks to importers abroad and some entrepreneurs that were interested in investing in hammock- making plants However, there was a problem: some Brazilian styles could not be copied because of the handwork and the knitting details such as : macramés, crochetting, laces etc.

 For some time the copying of Brazilian hammocks by the Chineseworked well , while Brazilian exports dwindled slowly and systemtically . Now, the Chinese face a big problem: the decline oftheir hammock exports caused by the following factors. First setback : Their hammocks started being rejected because of their poor quality . The second setback was caused by the international crisis itself . Importers` orders started to dwindle . The third setback : the Chinese discovered that hammocks are seasonal products, subject  to many market nuances , it is a seasonal product mostly sold during Summer. Finally, the Chinese are idle in their hammock-making activities for the most part of the year , and so, many of them have changed their activities , others have closed down their factories .In short, hammock-making business is not an interesting business for the Chinese, anymore. In fact, China has never been a traditional market for hammocks, and hardly a Chinese knows what a hammock is, differently from Brazil where there is a 500-year  tradition of hammocks, and where there is a year production of 500.000 hammocks absorbed by the domestic market . Most of Brazilian homes have at least one hammock, and in most cases, a hammock substitutes a bed there .

In short, and due to the facts above, Brazilian hammock exporters expect to resume their exports soon , and while this does not happen, they will surely overcome this current crisis by continuing making hammocks asured that all their production will be sold in the domestic market.

Manoel Veloso
 Brazilian Hammock Export Agent
Fortaleza, Brazil - September, 2014

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