“萨德”僵局致韩国零售商在华亏损惨重

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

中韩之间的政治紧张局势在中国引发了一场由政府引导的抵制韩货运动，面对亏损额不断扩大，韩国一众消费品制造商正考虑收缩在华业务或完全退出中国。

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.

在韩国决定部署一套引发争议的导弹防御系统之后，乐天集团(Lotte Group)已成为该事件的一个引人注目的受害者。目前乐天集团考虑卖掉其在中国陷入困境的超市。

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.

这家韩国第五大企业集团预计，今年其中国销售额总计将减少1万亿韩元(约合8.85亿美元)以上。消费者对韩国部署美国制造的导弹防御系统感到愤怒，从而不再光顾韩国商店，不再购买韩国商品。

“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.

“随着我们在中国的困难加大，我们正在考虑各种重组选项，包括出售在华门店，”乐天集团周一表示。

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.

在乐天去年11月把一块土地出售给韩国政府用于部署“末段高空区域防御系统”(Terminal High Altitude Area Defence,通常被称为“萨德”(Thaad))之后，这家企业集团成了中国政府打压韩国企业行动的主要目标。在99家乐天玛特(Lotte Mart)中，自2月末以来被关闭的达87家，中方给出的经常是违反消防规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.

“我们希望政府将更积极地寻求一项外交解决方案，因为一家公司对此做不了什么，”乐天表示。

“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.”

“以前乐天在中国就一直在艰难地与当地同行和电商对手展开竞争，萨德问题让形势变得更糟，”一位行业分析师说，“若要保护集团的整体利润，彻底关掉在华业务(将是)更好的做法，但鉴于中国业务规模太大，这将不是一项容易做出的决定。”

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

去年，乐天玛特在中国市场的销售额达1.2万亿韩元，占总销售额的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.

中国对萨德的愤怒，令韩国消费品集团受到冲击。韩国车企现代汽车(Hyundai Motor)及其子公司起亚汽车(Kia Motors)今年前7个月的销售额下降了近50%，而韩国领先的化妆品生产商爱茉莉太平洋(AmorePacific)今年上半年的营业利润减少了近30%。

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

行业高管表示，有鉴于此，许多韩国企业正在考虑削减在华业务规模或者撤出中国市场。

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.

乐天的本国同行新世界集团(Shinsegae)正考虑卖掉在中国市场剩余的6家易买得(E-MART)超市。该公司计划到年底前撤出中国。韩国商业日报《每日经济新闻》(Maeil Business Newspaper)报道称，新世界集团正进行谈判，打算把一些商店卖给泰国的正大集团(Charoen Pokphand Group)。易买得拒绝就该报道置评。

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.

易买得是在大约20年前进入中国的，在巅峰时期在中国曾有26家门店，但在2011年关闭了其中的11家，并在持续关店。由于缺乏规模经济效应，过去5年其中国业务的亏损大约为2000亿韩元;随着消费者的离去，亏损额正在增加。

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.

韩国集团好丽友(Orion)是中国市场上规模第二大的糕点生产商。由于今年上半年营业利润同比暴跌64%，该集团不久前把其在中国的员工裁减了五分之一，并更换了子公司的负责人。去年，好丽友在中国市场的销售额达1.3万亿韩元，占集团总销售额的56%。