Natural casings are known as soft gold. Sausage products in developed countries such as Europe and the United States are basically packaged with natural casings. They are safe, edible, nutritious and easy to digest natural food packaging. A few years ago, casings in the international market were in short supply, especially in the peak season for meat processing. Natural casings were "difficult to find". As a result, my country's casing industry has opened a "high-speed road", occupying "half of the world's casing exports."

However, with the development of the market, many developed countries have begun to join the ranks of casing production and processing. In 2015, my country exported 94,700 tons of casings with a value of 1.039 billion U.S. dollars. The export volume dropped significantly, especially for sheep casings, with an average price drop of 13.5% year-on-year.

Heze is the region with the most casing exports in Shandong. According to the response of local casing manufacturers, the current casing sales market has been sluggish. Not only prices have fallen, but the confidence of many enterprises has also fallen, and exports are under pressure.

Corporate funds are under "pressure". First, the appreciation of the renminbi affects exports. As the exchange rate of RMB against the Euro and Japanese Yen continues to rise, the cost advantage of enterprises' exports has been completely offset, resulting in a gradual decline in the export income of casing products; second, the pressure of capital turnover is high. The value of a container casing product is RMB 4 million to RMB 6 million. According to each casing company exporting one container per month, considering the shipping cycle and the time limit for payment, the company needs 20 million to 30 million capital turnover; third, the profit is serious Decline. Since the price of casings reached a high point in 2013, companies have been looting raw materials at high prices. Subsequently, the prices of raw materials have continued to decline, currently falling by about 50%, while the price of finished casings has fallen by about 60% all the way. Raw material prices and export prices are inconsistent and severely squeezed Profit margins.

International competition is under "pressure". As an edible food packaging, the consumption of casings remained basically stable. Pakistan, Mongolia and other countries have begun to process casings. Although the quality of their products is far from that of our country, they have a significant price advantage due to low labor costs. Affected by the economic downturn in foreign countries, the market has reduced demand for natural casings and artificial protein. Casings are more suitable for mechanized production due to their low price, uniform specifications, and 60% cheaper than natural casings, making them more favored by customers.

Enterprise management is "stressed". At present, the production and management of casing export enterprises in China has the following main problems: First, most of the casing export companies are small and medium-sized enterprises, with few technical management personnel, insufficient capital injection, and poor ability of enterprises to resist market risks; second, the shortage of skilled workers has led to Increasing labor costs have increased the operational burden of enterprises; third, the traditional casing consumer market has basically formed a solidified marketing system, and a market monopoly has formed to a certain extent. It is difficult to maximize the profit of exported casings and it is difficult to open up new sales markets; fourth, Casing companies are passively adapted to export. Product specifications are set by customers. Customers often lead companies to over-produce and maliciously lower product prices.

The export conditions are "high pressure". The European Union, the United States and Japan are the main export markets for my country’s salted casings. my country’s exports of casings to the above-mentioned countries and regions account for about 70% of the total export value. The export market is relatively concentrated. Although companies strive to develop emerging markets and strive to achieve a diversified export market However, judging from the current export situation, the traditional export market still occupies a major position, and export trade is therefore extremely vulnerable to foreign technical trade measures. The European Union stipulates that chloramphenicol and nitrofuran metabolites in salted casings shall not be detected, and exporters are required to perform batch testing, which increases the cost of competition for enterprises; Japan also implemented the “positive list system” on May 29, 2006, and Implement new residue limit standards. In addition, affected by Japan's requirement that Chinese casings exported to Japan must be disinfected at designated ports in the country, it is difficult for deep-processed products such as casing casings and sleeves with high added value and China's processing advantages to enter the Japanese market.

It is worth noting that the consumption of casings abroad has basically remained stable, while my country's share in the world's casing trade is on a downward trend. Export competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and it may lose "half of the country."