Hey everyone, I'm sure most of you may have started to notice the price of shuttlecocks rising in your area due to the avian flu. I'm just curious if you know how much it has or will increase by? In Ontario so far, the price has increased by at least $2 CAD/tube.
yeah. this has been confirmed by various sources. the cost of each goose feather has gone up by around RMB$0.70. (around US$0.08) with 16 feathers/shuttle and 12 in a tube, the price increase will be passed to the consumers. however, as the life cycle of goose is around 3-4 months, some thinks that the price increase may be temporary. however, the feather market is just like any other markets, there is no certainty on pricing.
Are you sure about that? That sounds like quite the extreme price increase. At a cost increase of 8 cents US per feather, and 192 feathers in a tube of birds, that's a price increase of $15.36US for a dozen birds. And not to mention, that's a price increase in the raw materials alone, which is generally inflated further once it reaches the consumer. I certainly haven't seen any such level of increase.
here is the article i was reading in Chinese. i apologize as i don't have much time to translate it. however, i think this is important to all badminton players. maybe someone who have some spare time can do the other BF'ers a favor.... 一根鹅毛为何升价7分 羽球升价的深层调查 羊城晚报5月26日报道(梁劲松) 一根鹅毛为何升价7分钱？毛贩真的囤积居奇？大小厂商如何应对？ 经过一场悄然展开的羽毛球升价战，国内球价如今已创下历史新高。有人说，这是羽毛球运动在中国升温的结果，但实际情况并不这么简单。球价为何上升，厂商如何应对、长远有何影响…… 一根鹅毛贵七分 从去年11月至今，在国内销售的大部分品牌的羽毛球球价已有10%左右的升幅，例如国内比较著名的金雀牌羽毛球，其二级球零售价已从去年一筒80元升至如今的88元。 球价的上升，与羽毛球热在中国的升温不无关系，以胜利牌羽毛球为例，其广州分公司的销量今年三四月份比去年同期上升30%，在其他地区也出现不同程度的升幅。但和胜利公司一样，国内的羽毛球厂商均认为涨价前各档次的羽球定价已经比较合理，如今球价上升都是因为鹅毛涨价所迫。 一只一级比赛用球需要16根一级优质鹅毛，这样的毛在一只鹅身上只能找到四根左右。去年上半年，一根一级鹅毛的价格在0.18元左右，如今已经升至0.24元甚至0.25元。鹅毛升幅超过30%，球价焉能不长？ 据球商反映，往常各大球厂为了平抑毛价、稳定球价都有一定的鹅毛库存，但是由于禽流感期间各地大量灭杀禽畜，球商存毛入不敷出，有的已经空空如也，鹅毛价格才升到如今史无前例的高位。 厂商对策各不同 在毛价上升的压力下，近半年来国内球商一直在进行升价战，各大厂商在定价上采取了不同策略，力求在升价战中胜出、占据更多的市场份额。 国内著名品牌———金雀采取了依照市场变化调整球价的策略。但他们认为，假如按毛价的升幅将球价调升30%，那对消费心理会造成严重冲击，因而决定球价暂时只上升10％。由于金雀球是国内球界的老大，其球价的调整也成了其他品牌球价调整的借鉴。 胜利羽毛球源自台资企业，月销量超过15万打，因而也是用毛大户。在去年鹅毛涨价之初，该公司仗着库存充足顶了一阵子，后来顶不住了，今年3月开始升价。但出于战略考虑，胜利球的升幅尽量控制在8%左右，而且胜利公司反复强调这是调价不调质，并说“今后相当长的时间内不会再调价”。 作为世界上最知名的品牌，YONEX在这场升价战中采取了一种超然的态度，由于YONEX球主要面向国际市场，在中国市场销售不多，因而YONEX公司决定球价不变、质量不降。他们认为，跟着原料的升价而升高球价不是世界知名品牌所为，世界范围内出现过很多价格波动的情形，但由于存货充足及品牌意识，该公司在全世界都奉行稳定价格政策。 和财大气粗的巨商不同，中小球商在应对升价战时相对被动，但当中也有另辟蹊径的，像广州的欧雷仕公司近来一直在代用球上打主意。以前出现过的塑料羽毛球由于容易变形而淡出市场，但欧雷仕公司目前正努力引进一种用尼龙代替鹅毛的代用球，这种环保的尼龙球在欧洲已有市场，质量与价格均与5元左右一只的鹅毛二级球近似，寿命却是鹅毛二级球的三倍。 价格前景不明朗 不论厂商如何竞争，广大球迷最关心的还是球价会不会回落。有球商透露，鹅的培育周期较短，从鹅苗养至成鹅宰杀只需60至80天，因此禽流感过后鹅毛的供应量自今年5月起已经逐步回升，只是一些毛贩囤积居奇才继续将毛价顶在高位。只要球商与毛贩作一段时间的对抗，球价可望在今年下半年回落。但也有球商认为球价没有回落的可能。鹅毛不适宜长期存放，因而毛贩比较难做到囤积居奇，而且目前鹅毛供应不足，国内的羽毛球用量又在持续攀升，供不应求的局面短期内不会缓解，所以球价今年内不会下调。值得注意的是，毛价近来仍呈上升态势，以一级鹅毛为例，有人预计可能会升至0.3元一根，因而球价不仅难以回落，而且有继续上升可能。 图：对广大羽毛球爱好者来说，球价上升不是一件好事 王小明摄 是喜是悲各一词 球价总体上升对中国羽球会带来怎样的影响？ 大部分行内人士认为这次升价近乎于一场灾难，在毛贩得利的同时，对球商、球迷以至整个产业造成打击。正如金雀球厂负责人所言，毛价急升已经使羽球的生产越来越微利，由于利润单薄，有的球商已经考虑减产甚至停产，这将极大地打击中国的羽球产业。球迷的羽毛球热虽无明显的消退，但球价上升对球迷的积极性肯定有打击，换而言之，阻碍了羽球热的进一步升温。 有研究体育产业的人士则比较乐观。羽球升价这段时间群众反应平和，既说明南方地区生活水平提高后运动消费能力增加，也说明群众对羽毛球运动的热爱已经显现出某种依赖性。而且，鹅毛的供应早晚要恢复正常，所以球价最终还是要降回正常水平，目前暂时性的球价上升、产销得利，只会吸引更多资金注入这项运动，对群体乃至竞技都有推动作用。
Try my best to do a quick summary of translation: 1. Each piece of goose feather increase RMB $0.07 = USD$0.008, which is about 30% increament. 2. During the "flu" period, many geese and ducks being killing to avoid the spread of deadly virus = short on stock. 3. Different companies using different strategies as a solution for cost increase. 3.1 Jin Que (leading manufacture in China) and Victor increases price by about 8-10%. 3.2 Yonex refuses to increase its price, in order to maintain its reputation. 3.3 Other manufactures trying to do research on substitute material instead of feather, such as nylone (Ashway Quest in Europe?). 4. Forecast in market: 4.1 Some ppl believe the price will drop back in a short period of time, as geese and duck grew very fast, and there's no way the feather sellers could on purposely stock up feathers to control the market. 4.2 On the other hand, some others believe the price will not drop back. The profit margin will further shrink in shuttle manufacturing, which result into manufactures to close down production lines.
Badminton Econ 101 long term wise, price will go up, flu or no avian flu reasons: - chinese/indian workers wont be paid peanuts as standard of living rise. - Who want to work in stinking factories when one can do IT related work in climate controlled offices. - shortage of farmland as farmland compete for land with growing cities, we all know who'll win - cork, like lumber, is a diminishing resource unlike other balls, golf, tennis, basketball, baseball, hockey are made from processed material (plastic, rubber, polymer). Where as feather&cork, they are grown and the resources (manual labor and raw materials) are not mainstream enough. Add to that feather shuttle last 30 sec in some cases (ranked tournaments). enjoy feathers while u can LOL because feather playing will be like ordering fine wine from restaurants instead of special of the day cooler wines.Remember, badminton is still an unknown sport in many countries around the world I'm not saying price is going up fast but the trend is all up. Like it or not, plastic shuttles will be the anchor of badminton longevity.
don't you need oil to make plastics? The price of that appears to be on the way up, and when it runs out... and rubber comes from trees. Anyway, I bought some tubes of feathers yesterday, and noticed that, in this shop, the stringing price had gone up but the price of Yonex feathers was still the same as about 2 years ago. I mentioned it to the guy in the ship and he said that because of the avian flu, the Yonex prices might be going up soon. He said they had bought a larger quantity than usual of Yonex recently to "speculate" in the feather market.
yes, nylons come from oil but the oil component requirement is still higher from making feather shuttles.
As the article quoted above, Yonex decided to maintain their current price on feather shuttles, to defend their reputation of being the market leader. Well, at least as for now.
I know, I was giving a real-life example from shop I go to. Even if Yonex keeps it's prices steady, the retailers might still increase the price. If other shuttle manufacturers put prices up, the retailers may well put all the prices up, hoping consumers won't know any different.
in the US, Yonex's prices are higher to start out with. a tube of mediocore quality AS20 can go as high as US$16 and the cheapest AS50 is more than US$20. the top end shuttles from other manufacturers hardly go over US$18 while most are at around the US$15 so it looks like Yonex has built into its price some buffering range for price fluctuations.
it depends on the rate of price increase vs. inflation. shuttle prices always goes up. i remember when i was a kid, a dozen tube of feathers cost around HK$30 then (around US$4). nowadays, they are least $80 if not $100 or more. it is true that China will get more and more expensive as labor cost goes up. but remember, nowadays there are so many things that are also manufactured in China and the rise in cost will affect those items as well. the end result is that the whole global economy as a whole will see rise in inflation. and the smart manufacturers will find alternatives if China indeed start becoming pricey. maybe move to India or other developing nations? so i am not sure if your prediction will be a certainty. only time will tell.
back when u were little, badminton isnt as popular as today, ie more people are playing today than before although we can say badminton isnt a mainstream sport yet. The point is, wait until it's a mainstream sport, imagine how many more players using feather shuttles. outsourcing to india wont solve the cost problem. India is growing just as fast as china. The only really cheap labor remaining on earth is africa and some part of russia. However, the duck/geese are raised in china so after transporting the raw and finish product back and forth, the supposed cost saving thru the outsourcing route isnt there anymore. I'm only talking about good quality feather shuttles (geese), if duck and chicken feathers are used for lower grade, that would dampen demand for the geese feather shuttles Oh, btw, flu epidemic doesnt stop at avian flu.
As I was saying... Jul 6, 9:02 PM (ET) By STEPHANIE HOO (AP) A Thai farm worker holds dead chickens before the destruction of the poultry at a farm in Ayutthaya... Full Image BEIJING (AP) - China and Thailand reported new outbreaks of bird flu, the highly contagious disease that health experts fear could sicken humans.
I agree that the price is on the upward trend beacuse of current scacity. Personally, I don't think feather "speculation" or storage will work because shuttles have limited lifespan.... no sense buying in big volumes only to find that they are so "dry" and brittle a smash ruins them...defeats the purpose.... Unless nylon technology improves by leaps and bounds - i am sticking to feather.. as long as I can afford it.
I just watched some news online and it says that FAO (the federal organization of agriculture...) stated that the Bird Flu is far from being controlled. Even worse, the bird flu is now expanding to Malaysia and Thailand. People are still trying to do find a way to eliminate it but so far no good. So I guess the shuttles price will be kept on going up, at least that's what it looks like for this year (and likely next year, too if it's not controlled)
They will always sort for the cheapest sources to maximise profit by maintaining selling prices. Perhaps they will look at Russia and India as the next lower cost manufacturing countries, if political and labour resources are good.
