科尔资讯

Textile Work Winds It Way Back to theU.S.

纺织行业回归美国

One Chinese Yarn Maker Finds Savings in South Carolina Hard to Resist

一家中国纱线制造商发现南卡州带来的陈本节约无法抵挡。

Zhu Shanqing, who owns a yarn-spinning factory in Hangzhou inChina'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.

朱善庆，在中国浙江省杭州市拥有一家纺纱厂，正面临劳动力、能源和土地成本不断增长的问题。他目前正在打包并搬迁他的纺纱机。搬迁到南卡州。

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 inChinaand get local government support, he says. Keer expects to create at least 500 jobs.

朱总是众多亚洲纺织制造商中的一个，为了节约工资、能源及其他不断增长的成本，决定在美国东南部建立生产厂房。 他的公司，科尔集团，已经同意在兰开斯特郡投资2.18亿美金建厂，该厂房距离北卡州夏洛特市不远。 朱总说，该新工厂所需支付的电力成本将是中国的一半，并且他得到了当地政府的大力支持。 科尔计划创造至少500个工作岗位。

There is another benefit. As costs continue to increase inChina, Keer can ship yarn to manufacturers in Central America, which, unlike companies inChina, can send finished clothes duty-free to theU.S.

还有另外的有利之处，因为中国成本的不断上升，科尔可以将纱线运送给中美洲的制造商，这些制造商跟中国公司不一样， 他们可以再将成品布免税运回美国。

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.

朱总和其他人的搬迁，也许不能重现曾经繁荣的南方纺织行业，但是它表示了全球贸易的转变正在为美国基础制造业创造有利条件。

"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.

不断增长的成本在推动亚洲公司考虑搬迁到美国来，“我们在一个成熟产业圈的前沿”南卡州商部部长Robert Hitt III说。

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 payingU.S.duties and to secure "cheap, plentiful and importantly reliable" energy, crucial in yarn production yet erratic inIndia, 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.

在10月份，一家孟买公司ShriVallahb Pittie集团公布了它将投资7000万美金在乔治亚州建立一家纱线厂，将会带来250个工作岗位。 公司想避免支付美国关税并确保“廉价、充足、可靠”的能源供应，这些对纱线生产非常重要，但是目前这些在印度都不稳定，国际发展部副总Zulfiqar Ramazn说。他还说纱线厂一天运行24小时，每周7天不间断运行，几乎常年都是如此，任何能源中断都会导致大量的延迟和浪费。

In April, Alok Industries, 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 theU.S.and pay less than 10% of what it pays for energy inIndia, said Chief Executive Arun Agarwal.

在四月，Alok实业公司，另外一家孟买纺纱厂，说它将在南方建立一家纱线厂，但是它没说具体的位置。该公司也希望通过在美国制造纱线来节约关税，并且可以支付比印度便宜10%的能源费，公司首席执行官Arun Agarwal说。

In September, JN Fibers Inc. ofChinaagreed 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 andGeorgiasay more Asian textile manufacturers have contacted them this year.

在9月，中国的JN纤维公司同意投资4500万美金在南卡州建立工厂，将塑料瓶转变成聚酯纤维用与枕头和家具。该投资预计创造318个工作岗位。南卡州及乔治亚州的发展官员说今年有越来越多的亚洲纺织制造商来联系他们。

Rising costs have made it more expensive to spin yarn in China than in the U.S., said Brian Hamilton, a 2012 doctoral graduate of North Carolina State University's College of Textiles, who wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the global textile industry.

不断上升的各种成本使得在中国的纺纱成本远远高于在美国的，Brian Hamilton说，他是2012年毕业于北卡州立大学纺织学院的博士生，他的博士论文是关于全球纺织行业的。

He found that in 2003, a kilogram of yarn spun in theU.S.cost $2.86 to produce, while it cost $2.76 to produce a kilogram inChina. By 2010, however, it cost $3.45 to produce a kilogram in theU.S.and the cost inChinahad jumped to $4.13 per kilogram.U.S.production costs were lower thanTurkey,KoreaandBrazil.

他发现，在2003年美国每公斤纱线的生产成本是$2.86，在中国是$2.76, 到了2010年，在美国是$3.45每公斤，而中国上升至$4.13没公斤。美国的制纱线成本低于土耳其、韩国和巴西。

The new investments bring only a few jobs to a textile industry that all but died in the late 1990s, as many mills shut down or moved overseas for cheaper labor. In November, 114,900 people worked inU.S.textile mills, a sharp decline from 1993, when 477,300 people worked in the mills, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

对于萧条于90年代末的纺织行业来说， 该新投资仅带来了少量的工作，在90年代末很多的工厂因国外的廉价劳动力而关闭在美工厂，搬迁到了国外。根据劳工统计局数据显示，在9月份，只有114,900个工人工作于美国纺织工厂，跟1993年相比是一个急剧的下降，那时候有477,300个工人工作于纺纱厂。

U.S.duties on imported yarn and clothing have existed for decades. But trade pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement created duty-free zones between theU.S.and several trade partners.

美国对进口纱线和布料的关税已经存在几十年了，但是贸易协定例如“北美自由贸易协定”在美国和一些贸易伙伴之间创造了免税区域。

In those agreements, theU.S.imposed a "yarn forward" requirement, meaning that textiles imported from partner countries have to be made completely from material produced in those countries or theU.S.

在这些协定中，美国对该种纱线也提出了要求，要求从贸易伙伴国家进口的纱线必须完全是有该国自己的原材料或是来自美国的原材料生产的。

If not, they face duties, usually ranging from 5% to 6% for yarns, 10% and 12% for fabrics and 15% to 20% for clothing, according to the National Council of Textile Organizations, a U.S. textile trade group.

如果不是，就需要交关税，根据美国全球纺织团体协会—一个纺织贸易组织，关税通常是纱线5%-6%的范围，面料10%-12%，服装15%-20%。

For years Asian clothing producers just swallowed the duties because production and transport costs were so low. Now they are reassessing that practice. Mr. Zhu at Keer said thatU.S.duties figured into his decision to set up shop in theU.S.so that he could take advantage of cloth makers in Central America, and not be solely dependent on an increasingly expensiveChina.

数年来，亚洲服装生产商都忍受了这些关税，因为生产和运输成本都比较低。但是现在他们需要重新评估该现象。科尔朱总说美国的关税政策让他决定在美国建厂，这样的话他可以利用中美洲服装制造商的优势，而不是完全依赖于日益昂贵的中国市场。

Mr. Zhu said that in Hangzhou—one ofChina's wealthiest cities—industrial land prices have soared, making expansion difficult.China's textile industry is plagued by overcapacity, which has squeezed margins, and local governments are reluctant to sell land to producers.

朱总说，在杭州（中国最富裕的城市之一），工业用地价格飞涨，使得企业扩张难上加难。中国纺织企业饱受产能过剩的困扰，利润也受到挤压，并且政府也越来越不愿意将土地卖给制造商。

U.S. labor costs outstrip what Keer pays in China, but that difference will shrink as Chinese salaries keep rising, said Mr. Zhu, adding that he expects the gap will be more than compensated for by other savings. The company settled on South Carolina's Lancaster County in part because of the proximity to Charlotte's banks and the port in Charleston,  S.C., he said.

朱总说，美国的劳动力成本依然高于中国，但是随着中国工资的不断增长，该差距将会逐渐缩小，他补充说他预计该劳动力成本的差距将会被其他方面节约下来的费用所弥补。他还说，公司决定将工厂建在南卡州兰开斯特郡部分原因是该地区离银行中心夏洛特和查尔斯顿港口比较近。

Lancaster County, which once had 11,000 residents working in textiles and now has 8.1% unemployment, has set an annual fixed fee in lieu of taxes that Keer will pay for 30 years. Sixty percent of that annual fee will be returned to the company each year until it has paid off a $7.7 million bond that the county issued to help buy the land, said Keith Tunnell, president of the Lancaster County Economic Development Corporation. The state also provided benefits.

兰开斯特郡，曾经有11,000的居民工作于纺纱厂，现在又8.1%的失业率，每年为科尔提供了固定金额税收抵免。每年60%的该费用将会返还给科尔，直至该公司还清了郡里为了帮助其买土地而给他的$770万美金的金额，兰开斯特郡经济发展局部长Keith Tunnell说。 南卡州也提供了一些优惠政策。

ShriVallabh Pittie Group plans to finance its plant with loans at interest rates much lower than it could get inIndia, plus generous state and local tax breaks and other benefits,Mr. Ramzan said.

The yarn spun at the new plant, about 50 miles north of a port in Savannah,  Ga., will be shipped to Latin America to be made into clothing that can then be shipped back to the U.S. duty-free, he said.

ShiVallabh Pittie集团打算为其工厂贷款筹措资金，贷款利率远低于印度，且有州及地方慷慨的税收减免和其他优惠政策， Ramzan总说。 纱线厂距乔治亚州的一个港口50英里的距离，生产的纱线将被运往拉丁美洲，制成服装后还可以免税运回美国。

"It's been a barrier to access," Mr. Ramzan said ofU.S.duties. "As an Indian company, you have to try to make everything for 12% to 15% less to make a profit. Now we won't have to do that."

“这是一个障碍，”Ramzan在说到美国关税时说，“作为一家印度公司，你必须试着让一切都少12%-15%的利润。现在我们不用再如此了。”