Special Feature

EDITORIAL
As we enter the month of November, Fastener World Buyers' Guide,
the most awaited annual publication in the industry, is finallycoming to our readers. First of all, we’d like to express our special thanks to
our advertisers for their continuous support, giving us the honor to provide
you with int’l promotional and marketing services. In addition, we’d like tothank our contributing authors, both domestic and international, who haveprovided us with many worthwhile market analyses and technical articles
over the years, so that our industry readers can continue to improve andgrow through their insightful analyses. More importantly, we’d also like tothank EFDA President Andreas Bertaggia, NFDA President Jim Degnan,
TIFI Chairman Tu-Chin Tsai, HKSFC Chairman Tsui Ping Fai, and TFTA
Chairman Josh Chen for their time to be interviewed to make this issue so
informative and worth-reading. This issue includes not only the suppliers
directory for the convenience of global buyers, but also a number of articles
on CBAM, export tax rates, emerging markets such as Mexico and India,
as well as news from manufacturers, associations, and exhibitions tokeep readers abreast of the latest developments in the industry. Let's lookforward to more favorable news for the industry in 2024.

CBAM Shows Hidden Opportunities; Taiwan Fastener
Industry Can be a Low-Carbon Transformation
Benchmark for Their Asian Counterparts
A few years ago, we’ve seen a wave of transformation in the global
fastener industry from the production of standard parts toautomotive fasteners. At that time, many Taiwanesemanufacturers seized the opportunity to invest inupgrading their production lines to meet the IATF16949 standards, optimize manufacturing processes
to obt ai n cer tif ication, a nd t hen est ablish
cooperation or partnerships with many major
automotive manufacturers in Europe and theU.S., successfully taking a giant leap upwardin the industrial pyramid and differentiating
their products from those of Chinese and other
Southeast Asian counterparts. This year, with
the EU CBAM measures entering the pilot stage
and its goal of achieving a 55% reduction in carbon
emissions by 2030, the oil/gas/water/electricity issues,
which were not emphasized by the fastener industry in
the past, have all been brought to the forefront and become
the most popular topic of discussion in the industry. Although
CBAM measures in many EU member countries are still at thestage of supporting program development, many parts are notyet complete, but it is an indisputable fact that it will be officiallylaunched on January 1, 2026, and Asian countries, which accountfor nearly 60% of the world's carbon emissions, are the first to
bear the brunt of the problem, so whoever can get ready soon will
be able to gain access to the market faster. According to our sideobservation, many Taiwanese companies have sharpened their knives andbeen ready to make good use of this new wave of transformation to win
more orders.

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CBAM is Expected to Become an
Important Ordering Parameter for
European/American Buyers
The recent order situation of Taiwan fastener industry isstagnant as customer inventory remains high and inflation,
operating costs and other issues keep affecting the exportof most suppliers. There are even voices forecasting thatthe next year's export will continue to be weak. However,according to our recent interviews with the presidents ofmajor fastener associations in Europe, the U.S. and Asia,
who were invited to share their observation on regions andviews on the current development of the CBAM situation inparticular, we noted that the activeness of Taiwan fastenerindustry to meet the requirements of regulations and thecapability for producing products that can help facilitate
environmental sustainability, as compared with theircounterparts in China and Southeast Asian countries, stillpose powerful attraction to the European and U.S. markets,.
EFDA President Andreas Bertaggia noted that "TheCBAM requirements are complex and far-reaching, and theEU member states are working hard to find a consensus on
the regulations. Manufacturers need to reflect the true
costs when producing CBAM reports, and Taiwan
has a great deal to offer in this area before othercountries do.”NFDA President Jim Degnan noted that"Taiwan fastener industry and the U.S. have built a rocksolid relationship based on quality, price, reliability andconsistent delivery performance over time. In the future,with customers’demand, the industry will have tomake the decarbonization of fasteners as apriority.” In addition, the chairmen of Taiwan
a nd Hong Kong fastener associations(including TIFI Chairman Tu-Chin Tsai,HKSFC Chairman Tsui Ping Fai, andTFTA Chairman Josh Chen), whose
members at large are focused onexport sales, also exclaimed in theinterviews that “CBAM is alreadythe top priority of many industry
concerns. If companies need to
introduce smart manufacturing,
upgrade manufacturing processes
or investment in equipment,
they must make good use of thegovernments’ counseling platforms/courses and subsidy resources to avoid goingin the wrong direction and making futile efforts.”
In my opinion, the fastener industries in Asiancountries have not been as active as Taiwan in responding
to the CBAM issue. In addition, Taiwan is not like the other
Southeast Asian countries having signed multi-party FTAs
with each other and enjoyed tariff-free or preferential
import duty rates. Therefore, it is necessary for Taiwan tofind ways to create more room for competition from aspects
other than low-cost considerations. Based on the fact thatTaiwan is still at the top of the list in terms of processing
technology, machinery, and innovation, and that Taiwan
government has already initiated the CBAM counselingprogram and established smooth communication channels

Special Feature
with relevant fastener associations in Europe and the U.S. (e.g., EFDA, NFDA), it will not be difficult for Taiwanese companies to become
CBAM's carbon-reducing models in the future, and low-carbon fasteners will become the key to victory for the industry in the int’l arena.

Exhibitors from All Over the World are Flocking Back; Taiwanese Exhibitors Should Seize
Opportunities to Draw the Attention
As of the end of this October, Fastener World Inc. has participated in as many as 20 domestic and int’l professional tradeshows related
to fasteners, hardware and industrial components, among which Fastener Fair Global in March, IFE and Fastener Poland in October, allrepresented by Fastener World Inc., even saw a total of more than 200 Taiwanese exhibitors in attendance, which continuously creates
exposure opportunities for Taiwanese companies in the int’l fastener market. In the past few months, we have noticed several obvious
phenomena that are worthwhile for future exhibitors to take as reference indicators.

Enthusiastic Participation of Int’l Exhibitors
With the end of the Covid and borders of countries not closed anymore, the numbers of int’lexhibitors at many fairs have shown explosive growth, especially those from China andIndia, and it is expected that if the market demand could gradually pick up, the willingness ofexhibitors from these countries to register will be even more enthusiastic. Take this year's IFE as an
example, the number of booths increased by 400 and exhibitors could be roughly divided into threemajor areas: U.S. local manufacturers/importers/distributors/wholesalers, Taiwanese/Japanese/Korean/Turkish/Other European and American exhibitors, and Chinese/Indian exhibitors. It has
been observed that there is a trend for foreign buyers to choose their purchasing targets from theseregions. Other more regionally oriented fairs (such as Fastener Polandor Fastener Fair Mexico) are mainly focused on attracting buyers
from the country and neighboring countries. Other auto parts andhardware-related exhibitions have more diverse exhibitors andincreasing proportion of Chinese exhibitors (accounting for 4050% of all exhibitors, and even in some cases as much as 60-70%).

The Market is Packed with Countless Competitors and Market
Fluctuations are Natural
As more and more competitors enter the market, the market share is bound to be divided.
This phenomenon will be magnified and emphasized when the economy is bad. However,as the economy is inherently mixed, it may be good last year and bad this year. Under suchcircumstances, manufacturers should seize any opportunity to gain more exposure forthemselves.

The Exchange Rate of NTD is Still Stable, Which is Good for Order Taking
With USD being continuously strong, the fluctuation of NTD compared with other currencies showed aslight uptick, but its rate has depreciated recently from 28 NTD:1 USD to 32.5-33 NTD: 1 USD, which can be regarded
as an advantage for manufacturers who have received orders at higher rates before and a complementary advantage for exhibitors and theirsubsequent orders.
In addition to the aforementioned observations, some frequent exhibitors at this year's IFE also said that regular exposure at int’lexhibitions definitely helps maintain cooperative relationships with local customers in the U.S., and it is also more likely to pull in more
opportunities for new orders. Especially when the number of exhibitors from China and India is increasing, it is even more important not togive orders to others. In fact, the effectiveness of exhibiting mainly depends on if exhibitors can frequently participate, and it isusually not possible to determine whether an exhibition is good or bad right after the exhibition ends. Exhibitors usually needto observe the situation within 4 months after the show, and during this period, they also have to keep contacting any potential
customers, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the exhibition.
Finally, as the saying goes, "One step at a time. You reap what you sow." Based on our 35 years of experience in global marketing with
our publications and participation in tradeshows, as well as our clients' feedback and opinions, we can conclude that if you believe that atrade show or media/publication would be beneficial to your company in expanding the global market, you may want to set up a long-term
promotion budget. After all, a good media or a representative trade show with a long history still has its own basic customer effect. Thereis no such thing as a free lunch, but if you can advertise continuously, it is definitely more effective than publishing once in a while orintermittently.
Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chief

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