5.39 billion sets of bearings were sold, which is +2.07% more than in 2018. The sales ratio was 101.32%. From January to December 2019, stocks of bearings in 127 companies increased by +15.82% compared to 2018 and amounted to 8.57bn ¥ ($1.2bn). From January to December 2019, the number of unprofitable enterprises amounted to 15 companies (12.71% of the total). Since 2018, the number of unprofitable enterprises has not changed. However, compared with the same period in 2018, losses for these companies increased by +141.86% to 520 million ¥.
— Bearing production and sales by Chinese national manufacturers in the first five months of this year showed a fall (Photo: Ningbo Chuangxian Bearing)
In this period, 118,000 people worked at these companies (-2.02% in comparison with 2018), and the total salary for this period amounted to 6.52 billion ¥ ($930 million) up by +0.94%. The average monthly wage per person increased from 4,850 ¥ (in 2018) ($700) to nearly five thousand ¥ (in 2019), or +2.78%. These insights show that despite there being no surge in revenue in recent years, there have been minor decreases and changes in the market since 2018. With the ongoing global uncertainties and decreases expected to hit in later 2020, however, the revival of the industry is bound to be a slow one. From January to June 2020, the main 127 bearing companies recorded -4,15% less operating income from the same period of 2019 and completed the first half of 2020 with -2.41% less production volume than for the same period of 2019. In physical terms, 2.47 billion sets of bearings were produced, or -5.5% less than last year. Bearing sales totalled at 2.39 billion sets of bearings, or -11.59% less than in the same period in 2019. Only 50 companies saw their total profit increase during first half of 2020, while 72 companies, on the contrary, decreased their profits. The number of unprofitable enterprises is recorded as 27, which is +42.11% more than in the same period last year. From the end of January to June, export sales of bearings from large enterprises decreased with -13.97% from the same period last year. In physical terms, exports amounted at 1.01 billion units of products, an increase of +4.85% compared to the same period in 2019.
— Only some of Chinese national bearing enterprises have shown an increase in economic and financial indicators (Photo: С&U)
The road towards post-pandemic recovery After the unprecedented decline in the China bearing production during the first-half of 2020 due to the pandemic, the question is now when the Chinese expect to rebound the production? The best-case scenario: Most of the bearing enterprises expect to fully restore production and operation in the fourth quarter of 2020, if, of course, the pandemic can be controlled and stopped in China and in the main industrialized countries. It is predicted that in the second half of 2020, there will be a significant recovery of production within most of the industries in China, which will lead to an increase in demand for bearings and provide opportunities for structural adjustment and long-term transformation of the bearing industry. Thus, the further development and recovery of the bearing industry can be more visible in 2021. The
Chinese professionals expect that 2021 will demonstrate a more obvious growth trend and gradual recovery in case the expected best-case scenario comes out. But at the same time, it is noted that the current pandemic can cause several other recovery scenario’s where the global markets can be imposed for a second or third wave of infections or the scenario where an efficient vaccine will not be available by 2021. In such scenario’s the recovery seems to be postponed till 2022 or 2023 (see article "The Bearing World’s Road to Recovery" on page 44). However, there are already some positive factors to consider for the best-case scenario and important indicators that can help the bearing production to recover and maintain an economic performance at the same level achieved in 2019. Overall China is expected to remain the global bearing production hub in the near future. At least till the world returns to the “new normal”.
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