With the World Cup approaching, the density of Yiwu city in China's Zhejiang province, known as the world's largest wholesale market, has also increased. In recent days, interest in various World Cup-related products such as souvenirs, soccer balls, jerseys and flags has increased in the sports goods section of Yiwu International Trade Market. He Jinqi, owner of a store selling flags, said that orders from abroad, especially Panama, Argentina and the USA, have increased since June. “This year, we are busy with orders for World Cup related products,” said Tong Guijuan, another wholesaler.
A toy company's 1000-square-foot warehouse in the Yiwu International Trade Market is stocked with a large stock of products prepared for shipment to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and the United States. The company official says that they are working at full capacity, sending two or three trucks of goods every day.
Meanwhile, just like the demands, the pressure on logistics companies in the market is great. Since shipping from Zhejiang to the Middle East takes about a month, all World Cup related items must be shipped before October.
Local logistics companies have also switched to 7/24 working tempo in recent years. Yiwu Port is overflowing with containers and trucks. Zeng Xibao, owner of a logistics company operating in the region, says they have been shipping two containers of World Cup products a day since July. “We are still at the top when it comes to shipping,” Zeng said. "Even though this year's World Cup is in Qatar, the amount of products delivered to Europe, the USA and Latin America, where football is popular, is quite large."
Yiwu local government also opened a special route in mid-September to facilitate the transportation of World Cup products by sea. Ships sailing on the route from Ningbo and Shanghai will arrive at Hamad Port in Qatar within 20 to 25 days after their departure.
In the first eight months of this year, Yiwu exported sporting goods worth 3 billion 820 million yuan (about $537 million) and toys worth 9 billion 660 million yuan (about $1,36 billion), according to estimates by the Yiwu Sports and Fitness Products Association. .
About 70 percent of the FIFA World Cup related products on the international market, including soccer balls, jerseys, scarves, ornaments and pillows, come from Yiwu.
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