Last year I read a lot about how China’s inflation issues were going to make it uncompetitive, and how other countries like Vietnam and India were going to eat its lunch.
When one of my customers who has a product made from wood and vinyl, asked me to get a competitive bid from another country, I decided to test the waters. I found 3 contacts in India and asked for quotes.
All of them came back double (or more) than that of the current product I am supplying to my customer from China.
While this was only for one product, I don’t know that the media is taking all of the facts into consideration. China’s prices have increased… a little… but so has their productivity.Their industrial base is vast, and many products can be sourced there that still wouldn’t be possible in other countries.