Japanese retailers expand supplies from outside China: report

Japanese retailers expand supplies from outside China: report
AFP - Monday, Jaunary 12

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's major retailers are stepping up purchases from suppliers in Asia other than their traditional source, China, as labour costs there continue to climb, a report said Monday.

The yen's appreciation has also prompted the companies to diversify their supply chains while consumers tighten their purse strings in the middle of the economic downturn, the business daily Nikkei said.

Ito-Yokado Co. and Aoyama Trading Co. are increasing imports of clothing from Vietnam and Myanmar while Seiyu Ltd. has started importing household goods from India and Pakistan, the report said.

In the year to February, Ito-Yokado's direct imports of apparel and accessories from Asia will have doubled from the preceding year.
Of the total, about 90 percent come from China.

But the supermarket operator plans to raise to 30 percent the amount it imports from countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar and Bangladesh, where wholesale prices are 15-20 percent lower than China, the report said.

More than 90 percent of the suits sold by Aoyama are made overseas, with 80 percent of them in China.

The men's apparel chain aims to lower the percentage of suits from China to 70 percent by increasing sourcing from Vietnam and Myanmar.

Seiyu is tapping parent Wal-Mart Stores Inc's distribution network to import from Bangladesh and Jordan, the report said.

It plans to add India and Vietnam as its suppliers this year.

Seiyu has started handling some 40 household goods from India and Pakistan, which can be procured at half the price of domestic products, the report said.

Fast Retailing Co., which operates the Uniqlo casual wear stores, plans to expand its production bases outside China to include such countries as Bangladesh.