INDUSTRY FOCUS
Deployment in Strategic Markets-

Emerging Fastener Trade Partners of USA/
Canada/Japan/Taiwan/EU in 2021-2023
2021-2023 美加日台歐重要新興扣件貿易夥伴分析Emerging markets are another shining star besides advanced countries such as Europe, the U.S., and Japan, which are worthy of indepth development and exploration of potential business opportunities by all manufacturers. The Middle East, Southeast Asia, SouthAsia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and Africa are all emerging markets. These markets, on the one
hand, benefiting from the domestic medium and long-term industrial development policies, show rising demand for fasteners applied inimportant areas such as construction, automotive, electronics, machinery and other important areas; on the other hand, they also actively
learn from the valuable experience of countries that have been quite successful in the development of the fastener industry, and gradually
emerge in the global fastener supply chain and obtain the recognition of customers from advanced countries such as Europe, the U.S., andJapan, who continue to place their orders. This article compiles the fastener trade performance of the U.S., Canada, Japan, Taiwan, the EU
in 2021-2023, and points out for readers the emerging countries currently showing great potential in fastener production and sales.

USA
Among the top 10 sources of fasteners imported into the U.S.,
India and Mexico were the countries with the most fasteners
exported to the U.S. among the emerging countries, with anexport scale comparable to that of Italy. India even surpassed
Italy in 2022, and despite a slight drop in 2023, the export
scale was still maintained at around US$200 million. Mexico,on the other hand, benefited from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA) and its proximity to the U.S. market,
with its export value growing from US$128 million in 2021 to
US$181 million in 2023. In addition, in recent years, the fastener
manufacturing industries of India and Mexico have introduced
many high-efficiency processing machines from overseas, which
not only greatly increase their manufacturing capacity, but also
continue to improve the quality of products.
Among the top 10 trade partners of U.S. fastener exports ,Mexico, Thailand and Brazil are emerging countries. Mexico
was the top partner of U.S. fastener export, accounting for about
35% of the total U.S. fastener exports. Its export value grewfrom US$1.498 billion in 2021 all the way to US$1.936 billion
in 2023. In addition to Canada's import scale being similar to
Mex ico’s reach i ng more t ha n US$1
bi l l io n , ot he r c ou nt r ie s d id notcross the US$300 million level.
T h a il a n d , r a nke d N o. 6 ,showed a very obvious steep
growth last year. Originallythe scale of Thailand was
only US$20-35 million in 20212022, but it suddenly grew to
US$134 million in 2023, which isnoteworthy for the rapid climb of
demand in a short period of time. In Brazil, theimport of fasteners from the U.S. was nearly US$100 million in
2021, and jumped to more than US$120 million in 2022-2023,
indicating that Brazil increased the purchase of U.S.-madefasteners in response to the demand of market applications.

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惠達雜誌

Emerging Fastener Markets no.13/2024

INDUSTRY FOCUS◢ Import◢ Export

HS 7318 Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
Rank
Partner
2021
2022
2023
6,029.42
7,732.26
6,340.04
0World
2,268.20
3,016.80
2,212.88
1
Taiwan1,114.00
1,605.47
1,083.80
2
China
618.06569.69557.383
Japan
321.01386.08403.34
4
Canada364.51365.25376.44
5
Germany
213.26288.18274.25
6
South Korea
168.79194.78227.527
Italy
182.76246.17200.608
India
128.70169.63181.71
9
Mexico68.68
92.85
111.41
10
FranceHS 7318 Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
Rank
Partner
2021
2022
2023
4,159.11
4,787.45
5,446.990World
1,498.07
1,717.50
1,936.08
1
Mexico1,094.91
1,247.93
1,355.18
2
Canada250.42230.91275.38
3
China
90.93
117.16139.97
4
Germany109.79126.84139.24
5
UK
23.72
35.49
134.33
6
Thailand
94.71
121.54121.51
7
Brazil91.05
80.11
102.708South Korea
84.64
88.96
91.24
9
Singapore
73.44
88.17
90.26
10
Japan
(in USD), in descending order according to figures of 2023
Source: U.S. ITA of Department of Commerce

CanadaVietnam and India were the 7th and 9th most important trade partners respectively in Canada's fastener imports. Vietnam exported about
US$37 million to US$47 million of fasteners to Canada annually, surpassing Germany and Italy in 2022, but later was perhaps weakened
by the poor macro economy, with the export decreasing to US$37 million in 2023, showing an inverted V-shaped trend. The size ofIndia's exports to Canada were similar to those of the UK, growing gradually from US$19 million in 2021 to US$28.5 million in 2023 undera stabilizing trend, and may be expected to close the gap between its exports to Canada and those of South Korea in the next few months.
Mexico, Poland and Brazil also play an important role in Canada's fastener exports. Mexico, in particular, was Canada's 2nd largest
fastener export partner, with an annual export value of US$20-27 million over the past 3 years, which also continues to grow. In
addition, Poland and Brazil, respectively ranked the 8th and 9th largest export partner, both reached the export scale of US$3 million in
2023. However, exports to Brazil showed a slight decline in 2023, but if combined with its previous performance it should remain in a growthtrend.

◢ Import◢ Export

HS 7318 Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
Rank
Partner
2021
2022
2023
0
World 1,641,223,450 1,979,836,408 1,979,999,547
743,038,133 845,539,185 947,042,278
1
USA
260,956,968 363,386,207 282,422,855
2
China
264,988,962 332,780,838 272,248,671
3
Taiwan66,337,656
68,437,569
89,140,065
4
Japan
40,117,074
44,649,721
49,198,384
5
Germany
30,495,358
39,137,411
41,015,369
6
Italy
37,363,805
46,925,406
37,237,076
7Vietnam
23,835,713
30,246,227
32,127,650
8S. Korea
19,396,045
24,647,885
28,515,549
9
India
18,668,967
22,357,686
26,486,879
10
The UKHS 7318 Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
Rank
Partner
2021
2022
2023
521,549,577 622,492,538 644,006,292
0World
427,417,087 500,323,957 531,534,028
1
USA
21,280,236
25,219,627 26,847,466
2
Mexico9,766,971
10,367,951 19,893,542
3Germany
10,592,578 26,329,530
9,778,274
4
China
6,517,047
6,662,624
6,558,004
5
The UK4,398,499
4,956,332
4,441,332
6
France2,300,741
2,957,869
3,682,591
7
Singapore
2,718,980
2,990,183
3,311,131
8
Poland2,678,049
3,444,591
3,214,856
9
Brazil2,646,374
2,791,465
2,585,266
10
Australia(in USD), in descending order according to figures of 2023
Source: Canada.ca

Taiwan074

Although Taiwan is exported-oriented in terms of fastener trade, it also imports many fasteners from emerging markets such as
Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with Vietnam and the Philippines in particular being the importantsources of imports. 2,210 tons of fasteners were imported from Vietnam in 2023, which was a decrease from 2021 and 2022, but
still accounted for more than 10% of the total imports, and the unit price of imports continued to rise. In 2023, Taiwan imported
about 752 tons of fasteners from the Philippines, which was less than 100 tons, and the ranking was overtaken by S. Korea. Although
Thailand, ranked 7th, exported more fasteners to Taiwan in 2023 than Malaysia and Indonesia, the unit price of fasteners Taiwan
imported from Thailand was significantly lower than imports from Malaysia and Indonesia.
惠達雜誌Emerging Fastener Markets no.13/2024

INDUSTRY FOCUS◢ Import
HS 7318 Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins, washers (including spring washers) andsimilar articles, of iron or steel
Rank
Partner
2021 (kg)2022 (kg)2023 (kg)2021 (USD)
2022 (USD)
2023 (USD)
20,226,906
20,555,598
20,601,026
202,718,941
206,365,494
201,158,635
0World
6,337,516
7,451,550
6,811,606
77,875,694
68,267,140
58,021,037
1Japan
4,939,133
5,086,195
5,808,137
21,298,804
22,018,485
20,919,630
2
China
3,001,866
2,504,624
2,209,373
5,458,649
5,653,957
6,321,179
3
Vietnam
498,775
748,549
850,764
9,337,536
13,239,377
9,637,650
4
S. Korea
1,970,096
1,228,647
752,6365,401,383
4,234,077
2,746,082
5
Philippines
588,859
610,382
504,995
14,574,275
14,244,859
13,613,156
6
Germany450,088392,566
400,7121,487,726
1,299,699
1,635,982
7
Thailand
78,735
167,459
314,651
1,140,018
2,447,700
3,870,872
8
Malaysia
384,038
431,703
241,141
32,376,523
38,714,212
38,684,248
9
USA
52,328104,582
190,152
713,893
1,220,473
1,746,504
10
Indonesia
Among Taiwan's top 10 fastener export destinations, only Mexico is an emerging market. The sales are clearly focused too muchon the European, U.S., Japanese and Chinese markets, while the deployment in emerging markets must still be strengthened. In orderto maintain the industrial competitiveness and diversity, accelerating the expansion into emerging markets to avoid the risk of putting
all eggs in one basket will be a special focus for Taiwanese manufacturers in the future. Data show that Taiwan's exports to Mexico ineach of the past 3 years were more than 30,000 tons. Mexico was also Taiwan's third largest fastener trading partner in the entire
American region, and its unit price of exports was higher than US$4/KG, higher than those of exports to the U.S., Germany, theNetherlands and other developed markets.

◢ Export
HS 7318 Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins, washers (including spring washers) andsimilar articles, of iron or steel
Rank
Partner
2021 (kg)2022 (kg)2023 (kg)2021 (USD)
2022 (USD)
2023 (USD)
0World
1,610,697,606 1,607,481,345 1,230,932,057 5,319,398,407
6,140,678,189 4,600,052,512
1
USA
699,424,627
715,366,220
555,151,052 2,249,932,503 2,747,362,820 2,016,262,391
2Germany
140,334,458
145,519,563
100,939,937
454,931,212
510,803,300
392,428,055
3
Netherlands
92,325,806
94,210,152
84,252,287
291,941,389
334,311,249
291,183,316
4Japan
66,328,760
68,044,761
50,986,675
246,070,626
285,744,566
207,515,176
5Canada57,377,615
53,664,075
39,796,453
176,999,474
194,944,919
139,397,250
6The UK
60,596,995
50,200,585
35,745,596
208,903,511
207,498,150
159,290,097
7
Mexico34,183,071
33,036,683
31,330,729
119,553,758
137,166,844
133,236,833
8
Italy
35,787,498
42,249,074
28,612,235
103,873,841
130,557,498
91,137,745
9Spain
31,967,659
32,053,906
28,487,240
83,072,214
93,347,440
79,982,768
10
China
33,366,679
26,809,240
23,988,525
191,236,329
171,963,301
136,335,009
in descending order according to weights of 2023
Source: Bureau of Foreign Trade (Taiwan)

Japan
Among Japan's top 10 sources of fasteners imports, in addition to large purchases from China and Taiwan, nearly half of themcame from emerging markets, mostly ASEAN and South Asian countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and India.
Among them, the import from Vietnam each year was more than 10,000 tons, and Vietnam was the only emerging country among
the top 10 showing growth in both import volume and value. The other major import origin was India, but Japan imported only about300-600 tons of fasteners from India. Thailand, in 5th place, showed around 4,000 tons per year, and Malaysia was nearly 2,000 tons,
with both countries showing a slight decline in 2023.

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Emerging Fastener Markets no.13/2024

INDUSTRY FOCUS◢ Import
Rank
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

PartnerWorld
China
TaiwanVietnam
S. Korea
Thailand
Malaysia
USA
Germany
India
Italy

2021
318,703
210,569
67,191
12,685
15,407
4,210
1,896
1,181
1,148
358
312

Japan P.C. Code 61703 Nails, bolts, nuts, etc.
Metric Tons
2022
2023
2021
328,344285,947
114,966,809
216,799
196,407
49,276,045
70,81952,52329,143,322
13,164
14,4193,903,435
13,61910,681
6,024,996
4,678
3,890
3,389,000
1,988
1,599
936,057
1,157
1,110
11,706,991
1,199
1,070
2,839,362
355
578
286,781506
539
563,551

1,000 Yens
2022
151,484,054
64,730,358
40,860,398
4,967,815
6,701,561
4,112,822
1,330,449
14,885,101
3,980,437
376,158
859,4672023
138,665,923
57,507,025
32,183,076
5,217,982
6,018,157
3,907,088
1,089,138
18,592,160
3,600,556
527,528
1,230,894

In addition to a large number of exports to the U.S. and China, the deployment of Japan in fastener exports to emerging markets canbe said to be very extensive, not only in Southeast Asia and South Asia, but also as far as Latin America and Turkey. The top 10 export
destinations were almost all emerging markets. The exports to Thailand and Indonesia were particularly significant, with morethan 40,000 tons exported to Thailand and more than 20,000 tons exported to Indonesia in 2023, though slightly shrinking comparedto the previous year. India, Mexico, Malaysia and Turkey showed various levels of growth. Exports to Brazil increased in value despite adecrease in volume.

◢ Export
Rank
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Partner
World
USA
China
ThailandIndonesia
India
MexicoBrazilMalaysia
The UK
Turkey2021
346,517
81,73393,44245,353
22,833
12,215
14,229
9,243
5,032
6,065
5,093

Japan P.C. Code 61509 Nails, bolts, nuts, etc.
Metric Tons
2022
2023
2021
323,560
300,342
324,979,462
70,22575,932
85,112,581
79,38858,96540,602,271
45,624
41,294
18,864,526
27,503
22,417
11,344,803
13,863
15,638
11,344,803
12,49015,565
12,842,986
10,045
9,094
7,242,948
6,153
7,211
4,882,411
5,408
5,793
4,837,971
4,762
4,825
4,143,090

1,000 Yens
2022
340,764,182
78,220,423
80,427,273
43,502,421
25,215,618
13,625,561
12,838,213
9,033,057
5,890,045
4,624,928
4,260,358

2023
338,944,513
86,052,307
64,240,470
41,759,470
23,373,793
16,058,078
18,515,875
9,200,628
6,767,828
5,605,194
4,754,233

in descending order according to weights of 2023
Source: Ministry of Finance, Japan

EU
Emerging sources of fastener supply for EU were Turkey, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Each year the EU imported morethan 100,000 tons of fasteners respectively from Turkey, India and Vietnam, and the sum of these three countries was about the total
EU's imports from Taiwan. EU’s fastener imports from Taiwan in 2023 fell below the level of 2021, but Turkey, India and Vietnam
basically remained at the level of 100,000 tons each year. Coupled with the FTA signed between Vietnam and the EU, these emerging
countries are very likely to become the competitors of Taiwanese manufacturers in the future. Although the volume of imports fromThailand increased, the value of imports declined, and the unit price of imports decreased rather than increased. The scale of imports from
Malaysia was not as large as those of other emerging countries, with both the volume and value of imports decreasing significantly, but it
was still one of the top 10 sources of imports of the EU.

078

In addition to the U.S., China and the U.K. ranked in the top 3 places, EU fasteners were also exported to emerging countries such as
Latin America, the Middle East/Turkey and India. The exports of fasteners to Mexico and Turkey both reached more than 40,000 tons
in 2023, and both of their export volume and value continued to rise steadily. Fastener exports to Brazil fell to 26,000 tons in 2023,
while exports to India remained roughly flat but continued to reach record levels of value. Morocco in North Africa, ranked 9th, was alsoa market worth exploring. Its demand for EU fasteners increased year after year, even more than the exports to Norway.
惠達雜誌

Emerging Fastener Markets no.13/2024

INDUSTRY FOCUS◢ Import

Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Partner
Total non-EU
China
TaiwanTurkeyIndia
VietnamThailandSouth Korea
UK
Switzerland
Malaysia

HS 7318 Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
Import Value
Import Value
Import Value
Import Qty(Kg)(EURO)(EURO)(EURO)
2021
2022
2023
2021

Import Qty
(Kg)
2022

Import Qty
(Kg)
2023

5,989,693,891
1,685,581,225
1,304,540,407
363,799,821
277,337,770
220,459,093
83,650,632
179,056,245
306,142,271
413,955,884
74,328,337

1,853,674,182
784,372,985
432,392,943
116,211,569
97,778,212
98,578,052
46,648,841
37,193,166
35,233,193
29,517,671
33,575,378

2,032,433,803
786,984,728
503,112,026
147,787,663
125,976,043
133,242,492
64,136,765
40,135,296
32,651,849
30,067,532
37,822,734

1,622,065,960
612,749,102
367,374,665
122,410,910
113,722,318
103,744,974
71,124,357
39,944,968
35,648,370
26,392,996
23,580,906

HS 7318 Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
Export Qty
Export Value
Export Value
Export Value(EURO)(EURO)(EURO)
(Kg)
2021
2022
2023
2021

Export Qty
(Kg)
2022

Export Qty
(Kg)
2023

4,893,380,898
851,593,807
889,616,414
532,387,328
230,600,830
211,820,587
328,780,540
182,590,156
146,237,933
96,349,528
125,105,997

591,917,815
92,233,725
90,437,214
72,690,597
38,035,490
35,365,342
43,557,703
31,309,101
20,023,718
15,138,942
17,503,310

565,018,598
84,216,409
78,661,034
72,861,788
42,968,143
40,359,446
38,736,199
26,931,981
20,509,378
16,515,532
15,556,481

8,057,686,959
2,206,535,650
1,908,206,067
562,312,772
411,746,473
405,059,573
141,856,659
214,911,081
345,909,729
449,854,586
116,903,429

6,528,155,595
1,479,238,685
1,371,445,701
534,789,905
357,881,578
266,394,570
132,410,265
210,982,358
363,167,932
451,295,668
71,126,452◢ Export

Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Partners
Total non-EU
USA
China
UK
MexicoTurkeySwitzerland
Brazil
India
MoroccoNorway5,348,563,414
990,131,195
864,113,954
577,538,701
275,055,419
267,006,310
380,698,606
213,604,181
170,534,984
112,926,202
146,842,723

5,572,033,586
1,055,738,020
814,409,398
636,481,859
315,899,620
314,840,671
372,901,493
202,552,125
190,525,078
142,497,711
132,812,704

632,653,760
98,216,658
98,323,298
77,762,113
33,638,580
31,281,768
42,586,593
29,976,954
19,791,751
14,512,843
19,197,600

in descending order according to figures of 2023
Source: EU Trade Helpdesk

Wrap-up
Summarizing the above analyses, we can conclude that:
Fasteners the U.S., Canada, Japan, Taiwan and the EU imported from emerging markets were primarily from India, Mexico,
Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey.
Fasteners exported to emerging markets were mainly sold to Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, Poland, Indonesia, India, Turkey, Malaysia
and Morocco.
Most of these emerging countries have shown great development strength in the supply and demand of fasteners. For manufacturers who
intend to develop the emerging markets, if they still cannot find out their potential markets and have no idea how to choose the suitable ones,
perhaps they can strengthen their efforts first from the list of these countries that have gradually gained the recognition of customers in thedeveloped markets and assess the supply and demand for fasteners and the current direction of the development of these emerging markets todecide on the direction of investment, which will definitely accelerate the expansion of sales in the emerging markets with half the effort andseize the first opportunity faster than the other industries.
※Fastener World Inc. will also enhance promotion in emerging markets such as Mexico, Poland, Vietnam, India, Turkey and Bangladesh
in the second half of this year. For detailed exhibition information, please link to the official website of Fastener World at www.fastenerworld.com or contact our sales at (foreigh@fastener-world.com.tw) for more information.
Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chief

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惠達雜誌

Emerging Fastener Markets no.13/2024