困难重重，福耀玻璃为何还要在美国选址建厂呢？

困难重重，福耀玻璃为何还要在美国选址建厂呢？

因为福耀所在的汽车玻璃行业特点是集中度高，且是资金密集产业。汽车玻璃属于易碎品，长距离运输会增加损坏，因此供应商一般会跟随主机厂客户，就近建厂。

而且，美国是福耀玻璃的重点市场。平安证券日前研报称，福耀玻璃当前在美国市占率为17%，它既是通用、福特供应商，也为日系和其他品牌提供产品。福耀玻璃在其近期发布的半年报中称，海外销售业务已占一半，且规模逐年增加，若汇率出现较大幅度的波动，将给公司业绩带来影响。为此，福耀玻璃通过在欧美建厂，在地生产与销售，旨在增强客户黏性与下单信心，同时规避汇率波动风险。

于2016年10月竣工投产的福耀美国工厂在2017年扭亏为盈。8月28日披露的半年报显示，福耀玻璃美国有限公司及其子公司在今年上半年实现营业收入19亿元，同比增13.7%；净利润同比增16.4%至1.5亿元。

‘American Factory’ First-Half Profit Grows 16.4% to $21 Million

By Zheng Lichun and Denise Jia

The Chinese automotive glass factory in Ohio featured in Netflix’s first documentary film produced by the Obamas reported double-digit growth in revenue and profit less than three years after it was built in an abandoned General Motor site.

Fuyao Glass America Inc., the American arm of Fuyao Glass Industry Group, posted revenue of $2.65 billion for the first six months of 2019, a 13.7% year-on-year increase, and a net profit of $20.9 million, 16.4% higher than a year ago.

The film is about how Fuyao Glass Industry Group, China’s biggest automotive glass maker, dealt with East-West cultural differences in the revival of the rust belt plant. It has set off widespread media buzz and debate over whether the Chinese way is better.

Fuyao bought the Dayton, Ohio, factory in 2014 and spent two years and more than half a billion dollars refurbishing it as a key part of Fuyao’s global empire of automotive glass manufacturing.

Put into production in October 2016, the factory incurred a net loss of $41.6 million that year. Within just a year, however, the American unit swung to a profit of $754,500 in 2017. In 2018, its net profit jumped to $34.3 million on revenue of $4.75 billion.

“American Factory,” the first film from former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s production company, captures the frustration Fuyao faced at first when its Chinese managers found that the American workers in Dayton seemed lazy and inefficient, while the workers complained about low wages, long hours and safety hazards.

In sharp contrast, Chinese migrant workers at a Fuyao factory in China chanted slogans every morning, worked 12-hour shifts and went home once or twice a year, the film shows.

Fuyao’s American unit also benefits from its nonunionized workforce. About two-thirds of the Ohio factory’s 1,500 workers voting in 2017 against forming a union. In the film, Fuyao founder and Chairman Cao Dewang threatened to shut down the factory if a union came in.

The parent company’s first-half report shows that overseas sales accounted for nearly half of the company’s total revenue, up from a 38.65% share a year ago.

America is Fuyao’s most important overseas market. Fuyao currently has a 17% share of the U.S. market, supplying glass to GM, Ford Motor and Japanese auto makers in the U.S., according to a research report by Ping An Securities.

The parent company’s net profit dropped nearly 20% to $2.09 billion in the first half of 2019, reflecting slowing global and domestic economic growth and continued weakness in the auto industry. The parent’s total revenue expanded 2% to $14.36 billion.

As the plant’s share of overseas sales grows every year, any sharp fluctuation in the exchange rate could impact the company’s results, Fuyao said in its financial report. Producing and selling through the American factory could help Fuyao to mitigate exchange-rate risks.

来源：Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com)