Industry Focus

Latest Update on theEU’s Fastener
Tradeby Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chief of Fastener World(Table data shown in descending order according to figures of 2020)

ImportFrom 2017 to 2020, the EU imported around EUR 4.5-5.8 billion worth of fasteners from the world per year. If calculated by volume,the yearly fastener import roughly landed at 1.5-1.9 million tons. The unit price per Kg was about EUR 3.
During these four years, 2018 demonstrated the best result in fastener import with the import value reaching EUR 5.705 billion andthe import volume being 1.911 million tons. However, the import appeared a consecutive drop in 2019-2020. In 2020, the import value
was already down to EUR 4.4 billion and the import volume slipped to around 1.52 million tons as well, a clear sign of market demand
shrinkage.
To view from import values, the EU’s main fastener import partners were China, Taiwan, USA, Switzerland, Turkey, Vietnam, India,Japan, and S. Korea. The combined import from China and Taiwan almost represented nearly 50% of the EU’s total fastener import. Theimports from USA and Switzerland also represented around 10%, respectively.
To view from import volumes, the EU’s main fastener import partners were China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Turkey, India, Thailand,Malaysia, and S. Korea. The combined import from China and Taiwan almost represented around 67.5% of the EU’s total fastener import.
Vietnam, at the 3rd place, only represented 6.6%. The EU showed very high dependence upon fastener imports from China and Taiwan.

Top 20 Fastener Import Partners for the EU (Incl. UK) in 2017-2020 (by EURO)
Product(s): 7318
Partners

YearsChina Fastener World no.62/2021

Total non-EU098

2017

2018

2019

2020

5,219,684,443

5,705,327,956

5,667,901,496

4,417,636,823

China

920,115,184

1,203,637,682

1,309,979,402

1,140,659,006

Taiwan1,320,527,177

1,418,785,716

1,343,686,383

1,028,746,155

USA

802,330,632

746,228,648

797,751,311

487,182,311

Switzerland

485,183,597

464,056,476

421,370,384

363,000,880

Turkey260,031,233

302,429,331

296,199,006

251,388,345

Vietnam

224,788,138

270,278,019

239,828,207

195,983,044

India

250,779,928

278,726,784

284,069,336

191,719,708

Japan

228,218,388

222,068,587

220,926,397

153,687,302

S. Korea

160,864,368

177,489,884

176,181,683

146,768,348

Liechtenstein

95,317,680

85,939,275

86,529,945

89,922,252

Thailand

109,370,292

125,429,022

101,855,810

70,336,474

Malaysia

88,128,507

96,013,273

87,371,382

65,362,079

Bosnia and Herzegovina

34,594,095

36,531,685

39,479,227

32,683,962

Indonesia

37,738,193

36,367,212

32,676,079

32,510,458

Norway30,496,543

37,609,334

40,246,641

29,720,992

Canada33,972,713

34,229,015

32,881,549

20,385,389

Serbia15,994,919

22,625,295

17,036,625

13,286,762

Philippines

21,558,437

27,874,791

19,828,250

13,220,318

Russia8,427,812

12,761,498

15,742,530

11,419,184

Brazil

17,000,815

18,494,238

13,523,993

11,113,802

Industry Focus
Top 20 Fastener Import Partners for the EU (Incl. UK) in 2017-2020 (by Ton)
Years

2017

2018

2019

2020

Total non-EU

1,725,371

1,911,158

1,831,023

1,523,211

China

548,746654,335

699,272

651,213

Taiwan524,818

546,729487,988378,180

Vietnam124,747

144,530

121,073

100,542

Turkey79,63992,70591,321

78,998

India

107,052

112,905

109,580

69,940Thailand

68,07975,15559,18943,500

Malaysia

48,74347,562

41,39832,422

S. Korea

38,16943,792

41,42731,184

Switzerland

32,721

32,58631,002

25,218

Japan

33,13631,30629,192

18,927

USA

35,01432,201

28,02014,807

Bosnia and Herzegovina

14,49814,331

15,713

12,773

Liechtenstein

13,085

12,294

12,048

12,632

Norway9,023

12,327

12,104

8,782

Indonesia

10,222

9,254

8,211

8,422

Serbia7,950

12,107

10,065

7,966

Ukraine

5,487

5,274

4,277

6,665

Belarus

4,114

5,821

3,594

4,568

Russia

2,382

3,757

6,472

4,119

Philippines

5,833

8,082

5,354

3,702

China Fastener World no.62/2021

Partners099

Industry Focus
Top 20 Fastener Export Partners for the EU (Incl. UK) in 2017-2020 (EURO)
Partners

Years

2017

2018

2019

2020

Total non-EU

4,247,031,753

4,481,999,683

4,616,451,798

3,888,110,553

China

882,446,226

895,332,219

820,271,204

859,608,759

USA726,173,946

827,916,158

958,790,319

742,843,667

Switzerland

308,152,479

321,415,607

307,042,385

276,668,747

Russia197,604,639

212,220,126

217,823,967

202,738,936

Mexico201,743,697

225,688,871

237,542,196

192,583,424

Turkey239,501,577

231,394,968

220,399,740

191,252,235

Brazil166,889,282

178,752,656

177,305,792

146,113,163

Norway121,455,190

138,755,966

159,305,607

124,506,350

India

153,307,520

176,574,478

157,120,028

102,170,892

Morocco74,183,931

75,263,890

92,948,958

78,499,486

Liechtenstein

76,306,754

68,276,508

65,203,869

63,211,337

S. Korea

56,102,825

57,104,863

61,795,870

59,782,127

South Africa

84,182,546

77,363,201

81,993,936

54,501,777

Australia

54,839,371

57,272,390

55,328,583

51,049,571

Japan

55,254,667

58,157,447

63,546,768

47,443,198

Canada71,032,894

68,690,834

77,211,260

47,142,169

Singapore

67,199,825

69,932,276

74,451,686

44,163,637

Ukraine22,650,793

30,185,743

38,726,800

41,270,824

UAE

52,365,326

48,340,892

56,515,569

37,821,739

Serbia34,153,601

34,354,969

33,177,165

33,995,715

Top 20 Fastener Export Partners for the EU (Incl. UK) in 2017-2020 (Ton)China Fastener World no.62/2021

Partners

100Years

20172018

2019

2020

Total non-EU

550,946568,314549,717494,018

China

112,089

106,479

90,32096,395

USA

77,89485,60392,09079,614

Switzerland

42,06442,92338,902

36,593

Russia36,14737,26437,44034,982Turkey40,41737,37736,09729,942

Mexico27,71830,87732,043

27,574

Brazil

28,82831,26528,46722,482

Norway20,19623,42525,28021,294

India

23,44725,63919,656

13,423

Ukraine

4,790

7,305

9,472

11,792

Liechtenstein

12,548

12,587

12,034

11,406

Morocco10,596

9,527

9,991

9,792

South Africa

11,844

12,581

13,545

8,493

Serbia

6,751

6,343

6,109

6,278

Australia

5,461

5,779

5,008

4,775

UAE

5,916

4,663

4,745

4,667

S. Korea

3,454

3,438

3,269

4,344

Egypt

3,466

3,931

3,716

4,122

Thailand

5,955

6,033

5,021

3,554

Belarus

2,872

3,308

3,332

3,389

Industry Focus

From 2017 to 2020, the EU exported around EUR
3.8-4.6 billion worth of fasteners to the world peryear. If calculated by volume, the EU exported 0.50.57 million tons of fasteners to the world. The EU’sfastener export volume was around 1/3 of its fastener
import volume, but its fastener export value was very
close to its fastener import value, which clearly showed
the fact that fasteners the EU exported to the world
were mostly high value-added products. The unit priceper Kg was close to EUR 8.
During these four years, the EU’s fastener export
to the world showed the best result in 2018-2019. Its
export value reached the highest point in 2019 ataround EUR 4.616 billion and the export volume alsoreached the highest point in 2018 at 0.568 million tons.
In 2020, its export value dropped to the lowest level at
EUR 3.888 billion and the export volume also dropped
to around 0.494 million tons.
To view from export values, the EU’s main fastenerexport partners were China, USA, Switzerland,Russia, Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Norway, and India.
The combined export to China, USA, and Switzerland
represented almost nearly 50% of the EU’s total
fastener export. The exports to Russia, Mexico, Turkey,Brazil, Norway, and India also represented around

2.5-5.0%, respectively. What’s worth mentioning is, compared to fastenerexports to the other main fastener export partners, the EU’s fastener export
to China in 2020 was still on a rise. To view from export volumes, the EU’s
main fastener export partners were almost the same as those viewed fromfastener export values. The EU’s total export to China, USA, and Switzerland
represented the lion’s share of around 43%. China was also the only one thatshowed an increase in 2020 among the EU’s top 5 fastener export partners.

RecapTo view the EU’s fastener trade data and the analyses in previous
paragraphs, one could roughly know that besides importing a great deal offasteners from Asia at comparatively low unit prices, the EU (benefited bythe vibrant fastener manufacturing, distribution, and supply chains in many
EU countries, such as Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, etc.) is also
equipped with sufficient capacities and capabilities to meet the global market
demand for high-end fasteners at high unit prices. The unit price of the EU’sfastener export was about 2.6 times the unit price of its fastener import.
During 2017-2020, the EU’s fastener trade data appeared fluctuations,but the fluctuations were comparatively mild. However, considering someunfavorable factors still in place, such as the shortage of labor and materials,
hiking transport and manufacturing costs, resurgence of reported Covid-19
cases, and the slow vaccine rollout, I expect the developing trend in 2021 may
appear a comparatively flat downward curve, but the whole situation may not
become so worse, as the global supply and demand still remain and the slow
recovery in many industries continues, as a result, the possibility of a drastic
slump is quite low.

China Fastener World no.62/2021

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