Because of copyright I've only pasted part (about half) of today's FT article and have attached link at the end. It might explain why BAL and BKL have fallen recently.
Good times are over for China’s ‘suitcase’ shoppers in Australia
Change to Chinese customs rule hits trade in buying western goods to sell at 50% mark-up back home Read next:
7 HOURS AGO
by: Jackie Range and Jamie Smyth in Sydney, and Sherry Lu in Beijing
Alongside her day job, accountant Jane Li runs a lucrative export business. A recent Chinese migrant to Sydney, she sells baby formula and other products to a network of friends and acquaintances back home who pay a mark-up of up to 50 per cent for products from the trusted shelves of foreign supermarkets.
One of a group estimated to number more than 100,000 in Australia, Ms Li is a “daigou” or “buyer on behalf”.
This “suitcase trade” in luxury and health goods has become a global phenomenon, accounting for Rmb34bn-Rmb50bn ($5bn-$7.5bn) globally in sales last year, according to the consultancy Bain & Co.
It has thrived because of the relatively higher cost of these products in China, a perception that western brands have higher safety standards following a string of food scandals in China and a surge in interest among middle-class Chinese consumers for products perceived to feed a healthier lifestyle.
The trade has become so big that Australia’s biggest supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, were last year forced to limit the number of tins of infant formula they would sell to individual customers amid concerns of a shortage that were sparked by a surge in daigou buying.
But a change to Chinese customs and ecommerce rules introduced in April and a desire by some luxury goods companies to take control of their supply chains is denting the trade. New hints and tips Email briefings subscriptions can now be handled in myFT
More tips
“The market has started to cool down,” says Ms Li, who along with her mother sells up to Rmb20,000 of products every month.
Swisse, one of Australia’s biggest vitamin and supplements companies, says that the number of daigou buying and selling its products has fallen from more than 100,000 to about 20,000 over the past year.
“New cross-border ecommerce rules introduced in China created uncertainty for daigou and we saw resellers sell off stock to reduce risk,” says Michael Howard, the company’s sales director.