The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corp (ECIC) has warned exporters to track closely the Christmas sales performance of their buyers to watch for signs of non-payment.
It said even when sales looked good, exporters should be alert to the danger of payment difficulties.
During the first 11 months of this year, the ECIC received $82.41 million worth of payment difficulty cases, representing an 11.92 per cent increase on the $73.63 million for the same period last year.
The rise, however, was in line with the 11.24 per cent growth of insured business during the same period and the corporation reported that payment difficulty cases were at a normal level.
ECIC said most payment difficulty cases came from the United States, the largest insured market. Payment difficulty cases in the US fell by 14.77 per cent to $29.08 million, compared with the first 11 months of last year.
ECIC received a large number of payment difficulty cases from Britain and Korea, with British default payments totalling $13.28 million, including a single case of $4.92 million by one insolvent buyer.