Industry Focus

Taiwan Fastener Export in theFirst 3 Quarters Slips 12%

Slow Recovery Expected for 4th Quarterby Dean Tseng, Fastener WorldFastener (HS code 7318) export from Taiwan to the world in the first 3 quarters this year dipped 12% in both volume and value, landingat 1.045 million tons and USD 3.02 billion. As far as we know since the COVID outbreak, the pendulum of Taiwanese fastener industry has
swung to negative growth resulting in halved sales performance across the industry. This downward trend translates to a double digit dropin fastener export to Europe, Pan-Asia and other regions. Particularly, the export to the U.S. in volume and value marked a drop of near
10%. With 45% of all Taiwanese fasteners exported to the U.S. in the first 3 quarters, the U.S. remains a primary fastener trading partner for
Taiwan, and the drop in export to the U.S. indicates an obvious impact by the pandemic on fastener-exporting companies in Taiwan.

Taiwan's Fasteners Exported to the World
Volume (KG)
Regions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

WorldJan.-Sep.,
2019

Value (USD)

Change Proportions

1,045,287,578 1,189,168,317 -12.10%

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

Average Unit Price(USD/KG)
Jan.- Jan.Change Sep., Sep., Change
2020 2019100.00% 3,021,908,000 3,447,076,000 -12.33% 2.891 2.899-0.3%-9.72% 2.720 2.763

-1.5%

U.S.

478,089,990

521,444,511 -8.31%

45.74% 1,300,497,000 1,440,563,000

EU & UK

309,892,887

375,270,631 -17.42%

29.65%

883,292,000 1,066,011,000 -17.14% 2.850 2.841

0.3%

Other Regions

156,236,491

176,760,414 -11.61%

14.95%

496,942,000

551,551,000-9.90% 3.181 3.120

1.9%

ASEAN, Japan,S.Korea, India

101,068,210

115,692,761 -12.64%

9.67%

341,177,000

388,951,000 -12.28% 3.376 3.362

0.4%

Taiwan's Top 15 Fastener Products Exported to the World
Volume (KG)
Products

Value (USD)

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeJan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

Change73181590: Other screws and bolts

536,473,677

639,987,105-16.17%

1,481,731,000

1,761,270,000-15.87%73181400: Self-tapping screws

181,111,428

152,594,232

18.69%

456,071,000

404,936,000

12.63%

73181600: Nuts

153,322,285

211,215,666-27.41%

523,033,000

683,470,000-23.47%73181200: Wood screws

86,849,141

75,950,384

14.35%

213,776,000

193,473,000

10.49%

73170090: Steel Screws (Others)

38,035,362

48,661,958-21.84%62,940,000

78,620,000-19.94%73182200: Other washers

12,353,588

13,718,161-9.95%

61,581,000

66,523,000-7.43%

73182900: Other non-threaded products

11,309,938

13,615,393-16.93%

52,776,000

61,324,000-13.94%73181900: Unnamed threaded products

10,565,315

15,055,506-29.82%

55,004,000

64,667,000-14.94%73182300: Rivets

5,009,076

5,600,196-10.56%22,756,000

24,646,000-7.67%

73182400: Pins and cotter pins

4,095,270

5,028,657-18.56%

20,488,000

25,708,000-20.30%74153300: Steel wood screws

1,984,863

2,368,089-16.18%29,571,000

33,243,000-11.05%73181100: Automotive screws

1,046,004

1,251,674-16.43%3,470,000

4,303,000-19.36%76161000: Aluminum screws

928,325

1,248,061-25.62%

11,347,000

13,753,000-17.49%73182100: Spring washers and other antiloosening washers

742,548871,554-14.80%6,296,000

7,378,000-14.67%74153900: Other copper threaded products

500,235

612,284-18.30%9,683,000

12,102,000-19.99%274

Fastener World no.185/2020

Industry Focus
Noticeable Uptick in Construction Fastener Export to the U.S.
The majority of Taiwanese wood screws were sold to Europe, taking up nearly half the whole proportion, followed by sales to the U.S. Whatis noteworthy is that the export of wood screws to the U.S. grew 57% in volume and 36% in value, evidently contrasting to the negative sales
growth to Europe and Pan-Asia. On another note, the majority of Taiwanese self-tapping screws were sold to the U.S. (sharing 43.43%) and grew
31%, far exceeding the sales volumes to Europe and Pan-Asia. Over 30% growth in both wood screw and construction screw export to the U.S.
indicates that the pandemic locks the Americans at home and in turn stimulates demand for home renovation and construction screws.

Taiwan's Wood Screw Export to the World
Volume (KG)
Regions

Value (USD)

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

World

86,849,141

75,950,384

14.35%

100.00% 213,776,000 193,473,000

10.49%

2.461

2.547

-3.4%

EU & UK

39,674,945

40,802,097-2.76%

45.68%

99,171,000

98,784,000

0.39%

2.500

2.421

3.2%

U.S.

32,366,510

20,563,530

57.40%

37.27%

79,161,000

57,857,000

36.82%

2.446

2.814

-13.1%

Other Regions

12,909,933

12,304,475

4.92%

14.86%

30,125,000

30,198,000-0.24%

2.333

2.454

-4.9%

ASEAN, Japan,
S.Korea, India

1,897,753

2,280,282-16.78%2.19%

5,319,000

6,634,000-19.82%

2.803

2.909

-3.7%

ChangeProportions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

Average Unit Price(USD/KG)
Jan.- Jan.Sep., Sep., Change
2020 2019

ChangeTaiwan's Self-tapping Screw Export to the World
Volume (KG)
Regions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeValue (USD)
Proportions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeAverage Unit Price(USD/KG)
Jan.- Jan.Sep., Sep., Change
2020 2019

World

181,111,428 152,594,232

18.69%

100.00% 456,071,000 404,936,000

12.63% 2.518 2.654

-5.1%

U.S.

78,665,311

59,991,784

31.13%

43.43% 198,541,000 162,621,000

22.09% 2.524

2.711

-6.9%

EU & UK

50,712,970

42,344,672

19.76%

28.00% 132,996,000 118,379,000

12.35% 2.623 2.796-6.2%

Other Regions

35,594,432

36,372,149-2.14%

19.65%

83,974,000

88,525,000-5.14% 2.359 2.434-3.1%

ASEAN, Japan,S.Korea, India

16,138,715

13,885,627

16.23%

8.91%

40,560,000

35,411,000

14.54% 2.513 2.550-1.5%

Serious Challenge Against Automotive and Machinery Fastener Export
There was a setback in Taiwanese bolt export to the world that dipped 16%. For nuts, it was down 27%. Both products have double digit drops
in export to the U.S., Europe and Pan-Asia. Previously at a meeting between TFTA members and TAITRA president, an industry participant
said Taiwanese automotive nut sales are taking a huge blow. However, the pandemic gives rise to a burst of demand for electric vehicles, pushingup Tesla’s stock price by 100 folds this September. This drives some of the Taiwanese automotive fastener companies to try switching to electricvehicle fasteners for a way out of this adversity.

Taiwan's Bolt Export to the World
Volume (KG)
Regions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeValue (USD)
Proportions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeAverage Unit Price(USD/KG)
Jan.- Jan.Sep., Sep., Change
2020 2019

World

536,520,671 640,043,709-16.17%100.00% 1,482,154,000 1,761,719,000-15.87% 2.763 2.752

0.4%

U.S.

253,815,498 287,973,733-11.86%47.31%

650,494,000 745,773,000-12.78% 2.563 2.590-1.0%

EU & UK

152,314,293 200,708,010-24.11%28.39%

426,245,000 550,373,000-22.55% 2.798 2.742

2.1%

Other Regions69,692,049

80,063,008-12.95%12.99%

219,689,000 248,238,000-11.50% 3.152 3.101

1.7%

ASEAN, Japan,
S.Korea, India

60,698,831

71,298,958-14.87%

11.31%

185,726,000 217,335,000-14.54% 3.060 3.048

0.4%

276

Fastener World no.185/2020

Industry Focus
Taiwan's Nut Export to the World
Volume (KG)
Regions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeValue (USD)
Proportions

Jan.-Sep.,
2020

Jan.-Sep.,
2019

ChangeAverage Unit Price(USD/KG)
Jan.- Jan.Sep., Sep., Change
2020 2019

World

153,322,285 211,215,666-27.41%100.00% 523,033,000 683,470,000-23.47% 3.411 3.236

5.4%

U.S.

60,978,977

85,138,263-28.38%39.77% 205,584,000 274,821,000-25.19% 3.371 3.228

4.4%

EU & UK

56,495,436

78,465,192-28.00%36.85% 168,956,000 230,462,000-26.69% 2.991 2.937

1.8%

Other Regions

22,008,179

29,255,644-24.77%14.35%

88,962,000 104,099,000-14.54% 4.042 3.558

13.6%

ASEAN, Japan,
S.Korea, India

13,839,693

18,356,567-24.61%

9.03%

59,531,000-19.65% 4.301 4.036

6.6%

74,088,000

Clear Gradual Upturn in Q4 OrderThe pandemic has made Taiwanese fastener companies gird up their loins and do all they could to tide themselves over. Luckily thepandemic is well under control in Taiwan. The fastener companies here are getting over it smoothly and stably, all with one purpose whichis to grasp hordes of orders at the yearend with an expected demand upturn. As we head into the fourth quarter, there is a silver lining of
the vaccine expected to arrive in place in the next first and second quarters. To that, the Taiwanese fastener industry is looking to take thefirst tailwind when the market turns around.

Fastener World no.185/2020

277