Home textiles bear the brunt of the plummeting ruble

Affected by the continued decline of the Russian ruble’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, Nantong, an open coastal city with relatively developed foreign trade with Russia, has also been affected to varying degrees. Yesterday afternoon, the reporter interviewed professionals from relevant departments of the Nantong Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and the Nantong Municipal Commerce Bureau to learn about some of the market disruptions caused by the current “ruble crisis” to our city’s foreign trade exports.
​Home textiles are the first to be affected
Many businesses have closed down and returned to China
For home textile dealers in Tongzhou and Haimen, Russia is an important export destination for traditional home textile products.
If the ruble had not continued to plummet, the home textile business in Russia would have been booming. However, the ruble has recently experienced a “cliff-like” decline in depreciation, which has overturned everything: in Sanxing Town, Haimen City alone, nearly a hundred merchants operating home textile businesses in Russia have had to choose to close their businesses due to serious losses. Return home.
The plummeting depreciation of the ruble has caused many local banks to be semi-paralyzed. The large amount of rubles held by merchants in Tongzhou and Haimen could not be converted into US dollars and continued to “shrink” within a few days.
After the home textiles, clothing and other stores operating in Russia had to close down, it also affected domestic production companies. Original orders had to be canceled or postponed, and workers were put on holiday.
At the same time, the continued depreciation of the ruble has caused significant economic fluctuations in Romania and other Eastern European countries that use rubles for settlement. Many Haimen Samsung merchants operating home textiles in these countries have also closed down one after another.
​Risk avoidance is the first priority
Looking for opportunities to fight against risks in times of crisis
　“Under the severe situation of the ruble continuing to plummet and depreciate, we are paying close attention to the impact and should make corresponding adjustments and countermeasures.” Yesterday afternoon, Wang, deputy director of the Foreign Economic Affairs Department of the Nantong Municipal Commerce Bureau, Ning said in an interview with reporters: “Risk avoidance is the most important thing at the moment.”
Wang Ning said that most of the home textile and clothing dealers in Haimen, Tongzhou and other places enter the market on their own and work alone, and generally do not register with the commerce department. Therefore, the situation in this regard is not yet completely clear. “However, there are some construction companies in our city that are engaged in construction labor subcontracting in Russia. We are paying close attention and tracking what impact the sharp depreciation of the ruble will have on their business operations.” Wang Ning said.
Relevant staff from the Nantong Municipal Foreign Affairs Office reminded merchants in Nantong: The plummeting depreciation of the ruble can be described as an opportunity amid danger. This reminds merchants who simply go out to do foreign trade to also pay attention to the domestic market and further improve their ability to resist market risks through combined domestic and foreign trade and two-wheel drive. At the same time, while it is best to use RMB, US dollars, and euros for settlement to avoid exchange rate risks, you may also want to use the price difference to import marketable, high-quality and low-price Russian resource products or gap products from Russia to find new business opportunities.