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Recently, "Europeans buy Chinese electric blankets" has been trending on Weibo. According to customs statistics, nearly 1.3 million pieces are exported in a month.

In order to save costs in winter, Europeans have begun to prepare thermal equipment such as heat pumps and electric blankets. Among the many thermal equipment, electric blankets have become the most popular item exported from China to the EU. For Chinese manufacturers, selling electric blankets to Europe has become a new business this year. However, this business is not easy.

Firewood has become a scarce commodity in many European countries

According to recent reports from foreign media, due to the deep energy dilemma in many European countries, the demand for firewood as a traditional heating fuel has increased greatly, and it has become a scarce commodity in many parts of Europe. The report said that some European buyers started stockpiling firewood for winter heating as early as summer, causing firewood prices to soar in many parts of Europe. Firewood prices have almost doubled in some parts of Hungary. In Stuttgart, Germany, there has also been an increase in illegal logging and theft. In Berlin, many households have also started cleaning out their fireplaces and chimneys in preparation for burning wood for heating and cooking this winter amid fears of a cut in heating and further rising energy costs.

Experts said that although some European countries have sufficient wood reserves in forests, trees must be cut down for a long time to dry before they become firewood, so it is currently impossible to supply a large amount of firewood immediately.

According to German media reports, almost all hardwood species in Europe are now used as firewood, such as oak, chestnut, maple, birch, etc., but it is still not enough. At present, German firewood suppliers have started to buy from Poland. Due to the recent sharp rise in energy prices, the Hungarian government declared a state of energy emergency in July and adopted measures such as banning the export of firewood to ensure domestic energy security. According to Russian media reports, Bulgaria has also stopped exporting timber to non-EU countries in mid-August.

The European people are forced to "travel" back to the era of burning wood for heating, which is rooted in the energy crisis caused by EU sanctions on Russia; if Europe does not stop imposing sanctions on Russia, Europe's energy dilemma will inevitably continue.

It is worth mentioning that in Europe, the prices of natural gas and electricity are constantly rising. According to Eurostat data, as of July 2022, the annual growth rate of energy price inflation in the EU reached 38.3%, of which the annual growth rate of natural gas and electricity price inflation reached 52.2% and 31.1% respectively. Energy prices have continued to rise since August. According to data from the European Power Exchange, the average price of the European power system was 462.1 euros/MWh on August 30, an increase of 6 times compared with the beginning of the year; on August 26, the Dutch TTF benchmark natural gas futures closed at 339.195 euros/MWh , an increase of 5 times compared with the beginning of the year.

Europeans buy Chinese electric blankets

Among the heating equipment exported by Chinese companies to Europe, electric blankets have become a popular item. According to customs data, since 2022, the export value of most home appliance products to Europe has shown a downward trend, while the growing categories mainly include air conditioners, electric water heaters, electric heaters, electric blankets, and hair dryers. The cumulative export value from January to July is $1.99 billion, $130 million, $490 million, $33.4 million, $160 million. According to customs data, electric blankets lead other categories with a growth rate of 97%. In terms of specific countries, compared with the hot sales of electric heaters and air source heat pumps in some countries, the import demand of electric blankets in various countries has increased simultaneously, among which Greece, Italy, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands have all doubled.

Chinese customs data also shows that in January this year, the monthly number of imported Chinese electric blankets from 27 EU countries was 189,000, 73,000 and 61,000 in February and March, and 154,000 and 222,000 in April and June respectively. , 521,000, and increased rapidly to 1.29 million in July, an increase of nearly 150% month-on-month.

Compared with the depression of the European energy industry, many electric blanket factories are producing at full capacity in China, on the other side of the Eurasian continent. Liu Hu, a manager of an electric blanket factory in Dongguan, Guangdong, said that the current sales of electric blankets this year are three times that of the same period last year, which is also the best record in the past five years.

According to customs data, "export orders have doubled compared to last year, and orders increased in July." On the 24th, the highest temperature in Dongguan was 34°C, but Liu Hu was staring at the production of electric blankets for winter supplies in the factory.

According to Liu Hu, as early as May, the factory made a market assessment and concluded that the electric blanket market will explode. There are two main reasons. One is the rise in natural gas prices due to geopolitical conflicts, and the other is the extremely high temperature this summer. Then there will be a great cold. Since June, the factory equipment has been running 24 hours a day, in three shifts, and the recruitment has been specially expanded for this purpose. The electric blankets in the factory are mainly sold to Europe and North America, and the current monthly sales volume is about 100,000.

"The winter in Europe is long, and some countries will be very cold until April, especially in the northern areas. Our factory's customers in these countries are stocking electric blankets in large quantities." Liu Hu said that workers are currently producing October, Order in November.

He predicts that sales of electric blankets in Europe and the United States will peak on Black Friday (November 25).

The European market has always been the main growth engine for China's home appliance exports. Demand for imported electric heaters has surged in European countries, especially in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. Import demand for electric blankets also more than doubled in Greece, Italy, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

Economists pointed out that in the context of soaring energy prices and natural gas shortages, made in China has become the "stabilizer" of the global supply chain. China's high-quality and reasonably priced heating equipment will be more and more favored by European consumers.