Recently, I was helping a small weaving company locate a new source of thrown raw silk. He was particularly interested in finding a source in Guangxi Province, so I did some searching. Guangxi is stocked full of raw silk factories, but the problem was the quality; it was too high. Is there such a problem?
His weaving company uses hand weaving methods and needs only the lowest quality of silk. What I came to find out is that China is quite advanced in the area of raw silk production. The factories I visited had very modern machines, a pleasant (though for the sake of the silk, humid) work environment, and produced a product that, though too nice for hand weaving, was of an excellent quality for most companies seeking to buy silk.
The Liuzhou area has several factories producing raw silk, and the greater Guangxi area has dozens. Finding these factories proved to be quite a challenge using English. The few who had English-language advertising were either out of business, advertised old phone numbers, or did not answer e-mail. Phone calls and personal visits were really the only way to go. Once the face-to-face link was established, all problems of communication were alleviated.
These local companies are more than interested in exporting their silk, but right now are confined to shipping it to the eastern coast of China where all the well-known silk exporting companies will hike up the price and export to those who need it. A local sourcing consultant could connect the Guangxi silk producers with the world. And now, we know the companies and their owners by name. If you need the silk, we can help.
