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IndustryFocus

356

Statistics & Analysis of

Taiwanese Fastener Export & Importfrom 2010 to 2014by Gang Hao Chang, Fastener World Inc.

Transboundary Development and Focus on High Added Value
Different from other emerging countries which only focus on the production of standard parts, Taiwan has beenvery active in recent years in promoting the development of fasteners with high added values, and the stress on high C/Pratios of products has been the consensus of Taiwanese manufacturers. Many manufacturers gradually turn to the fieldsof cars, medical care, and aerospace. As a result, big companies in Europe and the US are willing to shift some of theirorders to Taiwan or other Asian countries with lower manufacturing costs, because manufacturing these low/medium
end products in their countries is not cost effective. Taiwan, under this circumstance, can not just remain its dominance inthe production of standard parts, but also gain many orders for high value-added products with its technical advantages
accumulated over the past decades.
Take automotive bolts and nuts for example, lots of Taiwanese companies in recent years have been certified by ISO/TS 16949 (which can cover all the criteria of U.S. QS9000, German VDA 6.1, Italian AVSQ, and French EAQF, formulated by
all respective associations), making them one of the fastener suppliers for European/U.S. car manufacturers. In addition
to Taiwanese companies like Chan Hsiung, Chun Yu, Chong Cheng, Fang Sheng, Fwu Kuang, San Shing, Sumeeko, and Ying
Ming, which have been dedicated to the development of automotive fasteners for years, more and more Taiwanese fastener
manufacturers also try to tap into this field, which will definitely contribute a lot to Taiwanese fastener export values.

Export Major Markets Still Being Europe and the US, With Further Focus on
Emerging Markets

Table 1. Taiwanese Fastener Exports During 2010-2014 (by KG)
RankCountry2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

123
45678910
11
1213
1415World
N. America
EUAsiaUSA
Germany
Netherlands
JapanUK
CanadaPolandItaly
SwedenFranceRussiaBelgium
MexicoSpain
China

1,206,369,710
487,147,645
420,726,960
167,518,105
442,990,656
107,017,587
66,655,181
55,966,345
51,349,996
44,154,524
25,007,661
31,750,070
26,881,160
18,401,979
20,237,938
21,286,446
12,686,646
17,949,414
21,433,812

1,347,746,764
502,944,723
523,236,202
172,500,621
462,669,904
144,043,090
85,275,179
62,100,072
59,117,272
40,274,819
34,204,554
44,997,090
31,082,069
25,464,648
29,677,154
20,239,998
16,028,076
18,963,959
20,258,735

1,278,585,161
520,454,819
448,554,297
166,212,588
476,177,456
123,205,551
71,755,937
64,276,397
55,228,313
44,275,218
29,752,669
29,752,669
28,882,778
21,970,086
23,242,247
18,154,646
17,723,164
14,563,199
18,721,707

1,371,098,506
554,707,997
467,754,181
183,506,394
505,637,832
128,611,411
76,652,277
74,876,154
54,516,214
49,070,165
31,856,094
31,856,094
26,297,561
23,165,620
36,762,702
18,121,519
21,037,244
19,509,248
20,943,273

1,501,697,033
601,141,241
552,214,103
184,678,453
555,453,198
142,884,207
81,869,436
68,728,882
67,758,478
45,688,043
39,582,609
38,482,125
33,456,841
29,488,861
25,752,697
25,689,526
24,954,235
24,614,637
21,549,315

圖3

Industry
Focus

360

Table 2. Taiwanese Fastener Exports During 2010-2014 (by USD)

Rank

Country

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

World
N. America
EUAsiaUSA
Germany
Netherlands
Japan
UK
China
CanadaSwedenItaly
FrancePolandBelgium
Australia
MexicoSpain

3,066,814,297
1,156,016,490
998,712,574
585,119,220
1,055,745,232
271,865,602
165,660,410
162,355,955
119,897,919
112,648,762
100,264,274
68,627,619
75,347,070
48,227,283
42,923,068
52,808,665
63,331,171
33,155,351
40,994,671

3,808,037,696
1,343,073,043
1,384,713,585
670,852,271
1,240,435,842
402,474,772
236,244,691
208,254,478
156,076,037
110,405,804
102,637,201
92,889,900
107,132,928
71,223,143
68,112,720
55,807,503
73,794,180
42,229,933
49,448,261

3,586,618,369
1,399,209,941
1,172,011,184
615,936,150
1,286,122,692
334,678,814
191,005,149
208,036,083
149,773,373
102,105,450
113,072,509
88,237,574
68,141,370
62,456,200
57,265,784
51,085,634
67,574,924
49,374,532
37,387,748

3,679,741,858
1,434,243,489
1,187,237,009
634,783,658
1,313,807,599
337,657,846
202,051,596
229,134,466
143,726,891
112,548,024
120,435,890
78,398,990
76,797,422
63,099,953
60,816,003
49,207,941
64,187,689
56,233,878
47,444,347

4,053,691,383
1,564,379,819
1,407,761,666
642,540,555
1,447,361,270
377,706,067
223,378,480
212,378,935
180,719,632
122,980,282
119,941,997
98,458,251
92,178,290
81,606,571
73,599,167
69,430,104
67,322,837
66,415,507
58,449,546

Graph 1Graph 2The top 5 destinations
o f Ta i w a n e s e f a s t e n e rexports in 2014 were theU . S . ( 1 st ) , G e r m a n y ( 2 n d ) ,Netherlands(3rd), Japan(4th),and UK(5th). Basically, theU.S. shared the greatest
proportion (roughly 40%) of
Taiwanese fastener exports
and every year it imported
about 0.45-0.55 million
to n s ( to ta l i n g U S D 1 . 0 5 1.55 billion) of fasteners
from Taiwan. If Canada isconsidered with the U.S. asa whole, Taiwan exported
about 0.5-0.6 million tons tothis region every year. The
EU took the 2nd place andshared about 30% ofTaiwanese fastenerexports. Every year
Taiwan exported
EU 30%
USA 40%
about 0.4-0.55
million tons
(totaling USD1-1.4billion)of fasteners
Others 30%
to the EU. However,
the most interesting part
Pie Chart of Taiwan's Fastener ExportsIndustryFocus
Graph 3Graph 4

may be the fact that theEU once outperformed theU.S. in Taiwanese fastenerexports in 2011, though
the U.S. remained on arise from 2010 to 2014. The
remaining 30% was sharedby countries like Japan,
China, and Mexico. Taiwan
exported about 0.165-0.185
million tons of fasteners toother Asian countries.
Netherlands, dubbed"the crossroads of Europe",is also worth noting. Its
rank in the top 15 was after
Germany but right before
Japan, UK, and Canada.
Netherlands imported about 6080 thousand tons of fasteners
from Taiwan every year (Germany:120-140 thousand tons). Large
fastener importers like Eurobolt
and Fabory can also be seen in
the member list of Dutch Fastener
Importers Association (NEVIB). As
Netherlands is one of the transporthubs in Europe, fasteners can betransshipped to other European
countries via the Europe's largest
seaport in Rotterdam and Europe's
4th largest Amsterdam Airport
Schiphol.

In addition to major markets like the EU, USA, and Japan, Taiwanese fastener manufacturers have begun toexpand their business to other emerging markets in recent years. That is why markets like Russia, Mexico, andChina are also included in the top 15. The total export volume Taiwan exported to theses 3 countries amounted
to 20-25 thousand tons, quite similar to the total amount Taiwan exported to Belgium or Spain. However, if thetable is viewed by value, the average unit price of fasteners Taiwan exported to China was valued at USD5.7/KG (ToMexico: USD2.6/KG; to Russia: USD2.1/KG), while the average unit price of fasteners Taiwan exported to the U.S.,
Netherlands, Germany, and Japan was in the range of USD2.6-3.0/KG, which shows that the fasteners Taiwan
exported to China mostly belonged to categories with higher unit prices. Australia is also a market valued by many
Taiwanese companies. The data listed in the export volume of 2014 show that though Australia was only in the16th place (not in the top 15), it could still outperform Mexico and Spain and be listed as the 13th, if calculated byvalue. The average unit price of fasteners originated from Australia was about USD3.4/KG.
Although fluctuations in exports have been observed in respective countries, the trend for all countries on
a global perspective is still uprising. If the current growing trend continues, the total volume of fasteners Taiwan
exports to the world may reach 1.61 million tons or achieve the level of USD4.5 billion by the end of 2015.

361

Industry
Focus

364

Table 3 and 4 Show Taiwanese Fastener (HTS Code 7318)
Imports During 2010-2014.

Table 3.

ImportRankCountry20102011201220132014

123456789101112131415WorldAsia
EU
N. America
Japan
Vietnam
China
ThailandPhilippines
Germany
S. KoreaUSA
SwedenNetherlands
U.K.
Italy
Spain
Malaysia
Switzerland

16,623,480
14,306,482
1,262,757
868,632
7,775,432
3,028,759
1,537,123
129,890
1,213,509
574,193295,551
858,391
89,260101,864
70,68062,304
64,112
194,80336,595

18,599,732
16,272,227
1,451,520
643,471
7,740,231
3,375,471
2,188,319
197,686
1,991,889
654,069
449,838
613,230
140,192
102,154
137,067
100,844
65,327
161,41262,94918,934,007
16,368,413
1,256,365
673,7097,415,579
3,329,435
2,018,408
244,335
2,589,611
519,531
365,606
613,836
143,367
107,364
62,75493,554
57,234
103,870
40,17818,421,226
15,926,401
1,521,302
587,718
7,301,245
2,788,369
2,421,181
1,644,181
1,163,976
636,770332,039581,746
122,595
162,943
157,264
97,817
72,37796,30542,722

21,178,823
18,040,529
997,150
269,299
7,924,602
3,942,105
3,538,676
1,205,035
947,427424,919362,200
266,651
115,294
108,066
99,75485,27357,96947,83938,041

Table 4.
Rank

Country

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

World
Asia
EU
N. America
JapanUSA
Germany
China
Vietnam
S. Korea
Philippines
Thailand
SwedenSwitzerland
Netherlands
U.K.
Italy
Denmark
France124,807,233
81,371,719
24,918,225
16,362,956
64,003,113
16,163,449
17,199,760
3,923,504
3,663,470
3,535,220
3,934,346
603,045
1,297,356
1,115,550
827,139807,792
659,876
1,364,412
1,068,493

144,683,324
104,249,845
21,374,036
15,303,247
81,223,366
15,148,282
9,762,151
5,170,127
4,890,596
4,969,554
5,435,191
894,604
2,121,386
2,378,678
1,161,389
2,305,438
1,053,527
1,345,002
1,087,961

143,192,857
101,617,878
19,895,496
17,223,824
78,259,035
16,981,312
8,179,303
5,194,941
4,781,547
2,839,686
5,861,089
1,680,769
2,423,543
1,432,119
1,093,724
1,900,240
1,181,296
1,149,151
1,415,220

138,553,818
93,003,825
21,664,562
19,634,627
69,224,787
19,539,407
8,497,224
5,863,854
4,324,313
3,840,343
3,719,982
2,973,934
2,651,946
1,535,207
1,324,769
2,465,965
1,311,584
1,333,528
1,446,982

144,004,117
95,652,861
23,179,537
16,566,441
71,509,094
16,507,768
11,407,572
7,051,957
5,410,098
3,858,528
3,442,057
2,748,722
2,008,314
1,755,543
1,598,075
1,565,853
1,536,052
1,212,159
1,081,690

Taiwanese fastener industry is basically export-oriented and the level of fastener imports of Taiwan is quite low. If theimports are viewed by volume, it is easy to find that major fastener import partners of Taiwan were Asian countries like
Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Philippines, and South Korea, followed by the EU at the 2nd place, and the U.S. at the3rd place. As aforesaid, Taiwan has gradually turned to the development in fields with high added values, so it will importsome products which it does not or won't produce due to concerns over excessive manufacturing costs, in order to fully
satisfy the market demand. In 2014, Taiwan imported about 17,558 tons of fasteners from Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand,and Philippines and the total volume represented about 83% of Taiwan's total fastener imports of the year. Taiwan
imported about 18,000 tons from Asia and only a few in the total imports were from advanced countries like Germany, theU.S., Sweden, and Netherlands. The imports from China in the 3rd place in the past 5 years show a trend that it may dragVietnam behind and climb to the 2nd place by the end of 2015.

IndustryFocus
Graph 5If the import data
are viewed by value,
Japan is still in the leadand the import value
from Japan was around
USD65-80 million. TheU.S., in the 2nd place,
was in the range of
USD15-20 million andthe imports from theU.S. slightly dropped
compared to 2013. Asfor Germany, originallyoutpacing the U.S. in2010, its import values
plunged during 20112013 and did not bounceback until 2014. The reason
that the top 3 countries
were all European/U.S.
countries is mainly due totheir higher import unit
prices compared to thoseof other Asian countries. Inaddition, the import valuesof China at the 4th place,
Vietnam at the 5th place,and Thailand at the 8thplace have been on a rise
since 2010.

Graph 6Graph 7365

368

Industry
Focus

Conclusion

Graph 8It has been so many years
since Taiwan was first noticed
in the global fastener market
and its shares in the Europeanand U.S. markets are high.
Taiwan plays a very importantrole in the global fastenersupply chain. As more andmore competitors emergedin the markets and the illegal
discharge of waste liquid usedin electroplating resulted in thedelay of fastener shipments
last year, many companies haveregarded "industrial upgrade"and "environmentally friendly manufacturing procedures" as the major goals that should be achieved in the nearest
future. Taiwanese companies are not only active in applying for certificates (e.g., ISO 9001, ISO/TS16949, ISO14001,and so on), but also try to enlarge their business networks through acquisitions, facility expansion, or setups of new
factories to speak for themselves in the fastener industry with fierce competition. The niche of Taiwanese fastenercompanies relies on their years of R&D and innovation capabilities as well as the flexibility in satisfying customers'
demands, and that is why Taiwanese fastener companies, facing the increasing challenges from China and ASEAN, cancontinue to grow further and become the priority choice of many European/U.S. fastener purchasers.