“薩德”僵局致韓國(guó)零售商在華虧損慘重

South Korea’s consumer goods makers are weighing scaling back operations or pulling out of China as losses mount due to a government-led boycott

中韓之間的政治緊張局勢(shì)在中國(guó)引發(fā)了一場(chǎng)由政府引導(dǎo)的抵制韓貨運(yùn)動(dòng)，面對(duì)虧損額不斷擴(kuò)大，韓國(guó)一眾消費(fèi)品制造商正考慮收縮在華業(yè)務(wù)或完全退出中國(guó)。

prompted by political tensions between Beijing and Seoul. Lotte Group, which has become a high-profile casualty of the fallout following Seoul’s installation of a controversial missile shield programme, is considering selling its troubled supermarkets in China.

在韓國(guó)決定部署一套引發(fā)爭(zhēng)議的導(dǎo)彈防御系統(tǒng)之后，樂天集團(tuán)(Lotte Group)已成為該事件的一個(gè)引人注目的受害者。目前樂天集團(tuán)考慮賣掉其在中國(guó)陷入困境的超市。

The conglomerate, South Korea’s fifth-largest, expects sales lost in China to total more than Won1tn ($885m) this year as consumers shun South Korean stores and products, angered by Seoul’s siting a US-made anti-missile defence system in South Korea.

這家韓國(guó)第五大企業(yè)集團(tuán)預(yù)計(jì)，今年其中國(guó)銷售額總計(jì)將減少1萬(wàn)億韓元(約合8.85億美元)以上。消費(fèi)者對(duì)韓國(guó)部署美國(guó)制造的導(dǎo)彈防御系統(tǒng)感到憤怒，從而不再光顧韓國(guó)商店，不再購(gòu)買韓國(guó)商品。

“As our difficulties in China worsen, we are considering various options for restructuring including a sale of our stores there,” the company said on Monday.

“隨著我們?cè)谥袊?guó)的困難加大，我們正在考慮各種重組選項(xiàng)，包括出售在華門店，”樂天集團(tuán)周一表示。

Lotte has become the primary target of Beijing’s campaign against South Korean companies after the conglomerate sold land to Seoul last November for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system. Of its 99 Lotte Mart hypermarkets, 87 have been closed since late February, often on spurious grounds such as alleged fire-code violations.

在樂天去年11月把一塊土地出售給韓國(guó)政府用于部署“末段高空區(qū)域防御系統(tǒng)”(Terminal High Altitude Area Defence,通常被稱為“薩德”(Thaad))之后，這家企業(yè)集團(tuán)成了中國(guó)政府打壓韓國(guó)企業(yè)行動(dòng)的主要目標(biāo)。在99家樂天瑪特(Lotte Mart)中，自2月末以來(lái)被關(guān)閉的達(dá)87家，中方給出的經(jīng)常是違反消防規(guī)章等似是而非的理由。

“We are hoping the government will seek a diplomatic solution more actively as there is not much a single company can do about this,” Lotte said.

“我們希望政府將更積極地尋求一項(xiàng)外交解決方案，因?yàn)橐患夜緦?duì)此做不了什么，”樂天表示。

“Lotte had been struggling to compete in China with local rivals and ecommerce competitors even before the Thaad issue made matters worse,” said an industry analyst. “It [would be] better to close its China business completely to protect its overall profits, but that won’t be an easy decision to make, given its vast operations there.”

“以前樂天在中國(guó)就一直在艱難地與當(dāng)?shù)赝泻碗娚虒?duì)手展開競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，薩德問(wèn)題讓形勢(shì)變得更糟，”一位行業(yè)分析師說(shuō)，“若要保護(hù)集團(tuán)的整體利潤(rùn)，徹底關(guān)掉在華業(yè)務(wù)(將是)更好的做法，但鑒于中國(guó)業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)模太大，這將不是一項(xiàng)容易做出的決定。”

Last year China contributed 15 per cent, or Won1.2tn, of Lotte Mart’s total sales.

去年，樂天瑪特在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的銷售額達(dá)1.2萬(wàn)億韓元，占總銷售額的15%。

South Korean consumer groups have borne the brunt of China’s Thaad-related ire. Sales by carmaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors fell nearly 50 per cent in the first seven months of this year, while the operating profit of leading cosmetics maker AmorePacific shrank by nearly 30 per cent in the first half.

中國(guó)對(duì)薩德的憤怒，令韓國(guó)消費(fèi)品集團(tuán)受到?jīng)_擊。韓國(guó)車企現(xiàn)代汽車(Hyundai Motor)及其子公司起亞汽車(Kia Motors)今年前7個(gè)月的銷售額下降了近50%，而韓國(guó)領(lǐng)先的化妝品生產(chǎn)商愛茉莉太平洋(AmorePacific)今年上半年的營(yíng)業(yè)利潤(rùn)減少了近30%。

As a result, many Korean companies are considering scaling back their presence or withdrawing from China, according to industry executives.

行業(yè)高管表示，有鑒于此，許多韓國(guó)企業(yè)正在考慮削減在華業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)?；蛘叱烦鲋袊?guó)市場(chǎng)。

Lotte’s cross-town rival Shinsegae is looking to sell its six remaining E-mart supermarkets in China, from which it plans to withdraw by year-end. It is in talks to sell some of the stores to Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper, a local business daily. E-mart declined to confirm the report.

樂天的本國(guó)同行新世界集團(tuán)(Shinsegae)正考慮賣掉在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)剩余的6家易買得(E-MART)超市。該公司計(jì)劃到年底前撤出中國(guó)。韓國(guó)商業(yè)日?qǐng)?bào)《每日經(jīng)濟(jì)新聞》(Maeil Business Newspaper)報(bào)道稱，新世界集團(tuán)正進(jìn)行談判，打算把一些商店賣給泰國(guó)的正大集團(tuán)(Charoen Pokphand Group)。易買得拒絕就該報(bào)道置評(píng)。

E-mart entered China about two decades ago and at its peak had 26 outlets in the country, but closed 11 of them in 2011 and has continued to retreat. It has suffered some Won200bn of losses from its China business over the past five years due to a lack of economies of scale, and losses are mounting as consumers stay away.

易買得是在大約20年前進(jìn)入中國(guó)的，在巔峰時(shí)期在中國(guó)曾有26家門店，但在2011年關(guān)閉了其中的11家，并在持續(xù)關(guān)店。由于缺乏規(guī)模經(jīng)濟(jì)效應(yīng)，過(guò)去5年其中國(guó)業(yè)務(wù)的虧損大約為2000億韓元;隨著消費(fèi)者的離去，虧損額正在增加。

Orion, a South Korean group that is the second-largest confectionery maker in China, recently laid off a fifth of its Chinese workforce and replaced the head of its subsidiary there as operating profit plunged 64 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. The company reported sales of Won1.3tn in China last year, which accounted for 56 per cent of its total sales.

韓國(guó)集團(tuán)好麗友(Orion)是中國(guó)市場(chǎng)上規(guī)模第二大的糕點(diǎn)生產(chǎn)商。由于今年上半年?duì)I業(yè)利潤(rùn)同比暴跌64%，該集團(tuán)不久前把其在中國(guó)的員工裁減了五分之一，并更換了子公司的負(fù)責(zé)人。去年，好麗友在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的銷售額達(dá)1.3萬(wàn)億韓元，占集團(tuán)總銷售額的56%。