Industry Focus

Fastener Trade
Statistics ofAc c o r d i ng t o t h e I nt e r n a t ion a l
Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazil’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)reached approximately US$1.64 trillion in
2021, placing it 12th among the world’s major
economies. Brazil is also one of the Latin
American countries with relatively advanced
development a nd pa r t icu la rly dy n a m ic
industrial activities. The booming developmentof the country’s automotive, steel, aerospaceand other industries has also driven the
demand for many fastener products.
According to the Brazilian Customs’ Trade
Database, in terms of net import weight,
Brazil imported a total of 192,700 metric tonsof fastener products (HS code 7318) fromthe world in 2022, which amounted to about
US$998 million in terms of import value; interms of net export weight, Brazil exported
about 30,800 metric tons of fastener products
to the world in 2022, which amounted to about
US$167 million in terms of export value.
Although its import and export weight andvalue are not as high as those of major fastener
importers and exporters such as Taiwan,
Japan, S. Korea, and the United States, it isstill a demand and supply market for fasteners
that cannot be ignored in the Central andSouth American region.

in 2018-2022
Table 2 shows Brazil’s top 20 sources of fastener imports in 2022. The top 5
in 2022 were China, Japan, Italy, the United States and Taiwan, with net importweights of 100,700 metric tons, 13,600 metric tons, 12,500 metric tons, 11,100
metric tons, and 9,700 metric tons, respectively. More than 50% of Brazil’s
fasteners were imported from China, and in just two years from 2020-2022, thenet weight of imports doubled, showing a heavy reliance on China’s supply chain.
To observe from the import value (Table 5) the ranking was slightly changed. The
top 5 sources of imports in 2022 were China, the United States, Japan, Germany,and Italy, with the import values of US$ 271 million, US$ 171 million, US$ 93
million, US$ 90 million and US$ 74 million, respectively. Whether in termsof import weight or import value, 2021 is a significant turning point. Brazilian
demand for Chinese fasteners doubled in that year and this trend continued
through 2022.
To view from the imported fastener categories, in terms of net import weight(Table 3), the top 3 imported fasteners of Brazil in 2022 were iron and steelscrews & bolts (731815), iron and steel nuts (731816), and iron and steel selftapping screws (731814). In terms of import value (Table 6), the top 3 fasteners
imported into Brazil
in the same year wereiron and steel screws& b o l t s ( 7 31815 ) ,i ron a nd steel nuts
(731816), and iron andste el non-t h reade darticles (731829).

ImportTable 1 shows that the import net weight offasteners of Brazil declined from 138,500 tons
in 2018 to 117,300 tons in 2020, but showed asignificant growth in 2021-2022, and the net
import weight in these two years was evenmuch higher than the record in 2018-2020.
The same trend is also observed in the importvalue (Table 4), indicating that the demand
for fasteners in Brazil was clearly picking up.

Table 1. Brazilian Fastener Import by Net Weight (KG)
SH4 Code

SH4 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

7318

Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws,
screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins,
washers (including spring washers) andsimilar articles, of iron or steel

192,708,581

189,719,587

117,320,777

137,017,952

138,568,754

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Fastener World no.202/2023 惠達雜誌Industry Focus
Table 2. Top 20 Fastener Import Origins of Brazil by Net Weight (KG)
Country / Region

2022

2021

2020

2019

China

100,766,662

99,196,378

49,962,926

46,796,157

2018
46,156,531

Japan

13,667,468

11,751,692

7,886,444

14,622,117

14,773,777

Italy

12,550,229

13,704,420

8,749,336

11,970,146

12,965,280

USA

11,199,722

11,197,040

10,055,898

12,422,064

11,150,328

Taiwan9,746,922

10,116,691

9,020,345

10,400,409

12,951,902

Germany

9,259,588

9,739,810

7,013,462

8,513,660

8,695,961

South Korea

6,077,576

5,517,563

4,036,272

5,920,857

5,205,451

India

5,131,342

6,227,099

4,944,127

4,665,221

3,088,160

Thailand

3,382,370

2,778,696

1,868,338

2,787,255

3,117,293

France3,151,734

2,895,716

2,222,674

3,868,660

5,148,975

Sweden3,122,415

3,098,102

1,930,429

2,593,466

2,159,127

Spain

1,773,057

1,726,985

1,276,925

1,534,824

1,956,143

Belgium

1,635,031

1,079,212

703,857

887,522

689,010Netherlands

1,349,628

1,460,402

870,590

1,129,435

796,622

Hong Kong

1,348,414

993,065

361,335

980,092

1,131,387

United Kingdom

1,287,724

1,319,264

1,129,827

966,790896,044

Turkey1,174,575

1,281,949

676,461

845,479

1,005,067

Indonesia

973,533

783,390

575,475

806,953

1,042,792

Argentina

625,043

759,195

513,627

500,283

467,060

Poland601,223

589,173

514,352

928,861

1,074,702

Table 3. Main Imported Fastener Categories by Net Weight (KG)
SH6 Code

SH6 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

731815Threaded screws and bolts, ofiron or steel, whether or not with
their nuts and washers (excl.
coach screws and other woodscrews, screw hooks and screw
rings, self-tapping screws, lag
screws, stoppers, plugs and thelike, threaded)

88,547,287

87,658,453

56,183,202

69,953,281

67,595,292

731816

Nuts of iron or steel

27,793,100

28,577,005

14,103,809

19,141,953

19,858,383

20,823,861

19,370,904

14,161,540

12,498,050

12,109,584

19,107,371

17,748,168

12,045,534

12,590,282

12,717,247

12,432,739

12,750,757

5,338,371

5,674,185

7,929,679

10,328,888

10,571,278

7,169,046

8,027,661

8,423,479

7,536,542

7,814,940

4,969,241

5,493,024

5,735,135

2,032,370

1,899,042

1,093,921

1,463,809

1,489,826

1,900,908

1,694,841

1,071,576

1,118,140

1,484,198

1,067,503

967,550

784,370

660,147

849,360

731814731829731812731819731822731821731823731824Self-tapping screws, of iron or
steel (excl. wood screws)
Non-threaded articles, of iron or
steel
Wood screws of iron or steel (excl.
coach screws)
Threaded articles, of iron or steel,n.e.s.
Washers of iron or steel (excl.
spring washers and other lockwashers)
Spring washers and other lockwashers, of iron or steel
Rivets of iron or steel (excl.
tubular and bifurcated rivets forparticular uses)
Cotters and cotter pins, of iron or
steel

731811

Coach screws of iron or steel

645,608

75,81380,12754,381

114,376731813Screw hooks and screw rings, ofiron or steel

492,404

590,836

320,040

343,039

262,195

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Table 4. Brazilian Fastener Import by US$ FOB
SH4 Code

SH4 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

7318

Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws,
screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins,
washers (including spring washers) andsimilar articles, of iron or steel

998,191,238

884,392,334

652,318,601

806,808,846

819,556,390

Table 5. Top 20 Fastener Import Origins of Brazil by US$ FOB
Country

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

China

271,537,813

224,060,708

126,741,560

126,506,211

129,307,451

USA

171,698,982

141,310,591

139,283,566

176,457,585

162,548,913

Japan

93,538,350

86,597,842

60,248,841

82,933,597

87,921,451

Germany

90,276,006

88,782,296

66,061,043

79,602,974

80,318,464

Italy

74,259,260

79,993,962

52,027,462

66,793,054

73,913,831

France43,425,798

36,884,444

30,020,336

48,679,532

55,127,303

Taiwan38,115,625

33,703,948

32,668,578

45,206,766

49,356,605

South Korea

32,223,746

25,635,873

18,272,826

28,161,462

25,864,546

Sweden23,685,241

25,151,998

16,169,324

19,636,682

19,088,462

India

23,421,156

21,002,690

14,993,066

14,208,340

12,728,903

Thailand

14,890,670

12,827,725

10,220,368

13,785,684

14,359,139

United Kingdom

14,507,632

13,652,837

14,190,231

13,528,693

11,639,650

Spain

14,230,598

13,519,025

8,913,526

11,977,354

14,453,090

Belgium

9,737,846

7,205,251

5,759,311

7,078,056

6,476,320

Turkey8,162,984

8,428,000

6,189,620

8,756,390

10,278,275

Netherlands

7,396,767

7,389,145

4,719,716

6,276,729

7,785,496

Switzerland

6,484,087

6,363,577

5,104,329

5,636,500

5,844,775

Indonesia

6,242,294

5,509,218

4,064,010

4,640,943

5,353,688

Canada5,791,222

4,496,829

4,728,805

5,856,909

4,426,815

Mexico5,289,779

6,252,578

4,609,965

4,031,697

3,654,717

Table 6. Main Imported Fastener Categories by US$ FOB
SH6 Code

SH6 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

731815Threaded screws and bolts, of iron or steel,whether or not with their nuts and washers(excl. coach screws and other wood screws,
screw hooks and screw rings, self-tapping
screws, lag screws, stoppers, plugs and thelike, threaded)

455,126,912

400,246,830

297,652,375

371,127,355

377,237,942

731816

Nuts of iron or steel

161,912,401

144,936,519

105,189,405

143,906,342

143,439,509

731829Non-threaded articles, of iron or steel

156,774,613

141,596,869

112,995,322

136,955,258

139,823,525

731822

Washers of iron or steel (excl. spring washers
and other lock washers)

61,491,843

52,709,706

38,638,114

48,686,717

47,810,705

731819Threaded articles, of iron or steel, n.e.s.

49,378,204

45,321,574

32,458,845

36,341,622

35,404,031

731814Self-tapping screws, of iron or steel (excl.
wood screws)

46,866,009

39,432,452

29,336,256

29,354,817

30,277,109

731812

Wood screws of iron or steel (excl. coachscrews)

22,162,711

20,308,745

8,025,912

9,451,390

13,088,747

731821

Spring washers and other lock washers, ofiron or steel

18,334,228

17,273,317

11,328,317

12,556,422

12,481,737

731824

Cotters and cotter pins, of iron or steel

11,792,808

10,712,632

8,645,475

9,241,552

9,551,650

731823

Rivets of iron or steel (excl. tubular andbifurcated rivets for particular uses)

10,466,886

9,050,393

6,351,385

7,607,930

8,466,804

731813Screw hooks and screw rings, of iron or steel

2,775,106

2,562,188

1,466,733

1,402,845

1,571,468

731811

Coach screws of iron or steel

1,109,517

241,109230,462

176,596

403,163

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Fastener World no.202/2023 惠達雜誌Industry Focus
Table 7. Brazilian Fastener Export by Net Weight (KG)
SH4 Code

SH4 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

7318

Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws,
screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins,
washers (including spring washers) andsimilar articles, of iron or steel

30,812,501

50,157,593

23,165,879

22,312,907

25,425,367

Table 8. Top 20 Fastener Export Destinations of Brazil by Net Weight (KG)
Country

2022

2021

2020

Argentina

14,222,500

13,908,911

10,550,285

2019
8,009,709

2018
9,218,731

Paraguay

4,684,807

5,324,998

4,211,725

3,997,644

5,059,188

USA

4,118,731

3,525,384

2,131,614

2,434,641

2,263,435

Uruguay

1,289,362

1,400,254

1,163,353

937,487

1,151,930

Germany

1,185,351

1,003,379

606,914810,408

1,340,189

Bolivia

983,637

1,103,761

737,701

1,142,601

1,319,509

France898,740

845,112462,014643,739

1,014,834

Mexico502,605

569,757

382,839

635,514593,659

Chile

388,858

477,039

397,698

388,369

363,113

Colombia

376,004

271,655

297,503397,807

276,739

India

226,103294,263

297,929566,818

601,764

Ecuador

216,230

247,068

191,173

208,051

231,308

China

159,355

440,541

188,686

131,952

203,124Peru

147,613

18,947,746

146,510

181,447

158,501

Portugal

115,893

147,272

107,628

164,883

117,302

Belgium

115,108

10,88914,47522,203

61,164

Lithuania

109,790160,0120

21

34

Uzbekistan

107,258

69,44873,64946,41436,417

South Africa

99,197173,050

123,641

185,486

259,500

Italy

95,74242,49945,81935,16022,134

Table 9. Main Exported Fastener Categories by Net Weight (KG)
SH6 Code

SH6 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

731815Threaded screws and bolts, of iron or steel,whether or not with their nuts and washers(excl. coach screws and other wood screws,
screw hooks and screw rings, self-tapping
screws, lag screws, stoppers, plugs and thelike, threaded)

18,939,224

37,614,179

12,685,613

12,228,076

13,729,670

731816

Nuts of iron or steel

5,337,659

5,257,155

4,374,064

4,393,692

4,536,474

731819Threaded articles, of iron or steel, n.e.s.

1,699,538

1,648,904

1,059,836

1,183,600

1,741,339

731829Non-threaded articles, of iron or steel

1,084,268

1,291,780

953,401

1,595,678

1,324,113

731812

Wood screws of iron or steel (excl. coachscrews)960,780

1,150,725

907,843

483,857

741,379

731814Self-tapping screws, of iron or steel (excl.
wood screws)

902,548926,192

935,908

828,737

967,746731811

Coach screws of iron or steel

556,403

774,033

1,168,361

543,926

927,521731822

Washers of iron or steel (excl. spring washers
and other lock washers)

542,941

667,034

483,728

446,241605,139731823

Rivets of iron or steel (excl. tubular andbifurcated rivets for particular uses)

394,508

384,184

277,199

325,300

506,679

731821

Spring washers and other lock washers, ofiron or steel

237,172

305,587

238,868

198,790244,209731824

Cotters and cotter pins, of iron or steel

105,565

92,21852,84058,687

72,105731813Screw hooks and screw rings, of iron or steel

51,89545,602

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Industry Focus
Table 10. Brazilian Fastener Export by US$ FOB
SH4 Code

SH4 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

7318

Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw
hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter-pins, washers(including spring washers) and similar
articles, of iron or steel

167,677,895

138,453,524

129,207,343

180,725,098

148,563,760

Table 11. Top 20 Fastener Export Destinations of Brazil by US$ FOB
Country

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

Argentina

53,858,573

40,974,508

23,366,770

21,639,118

27,686,598

USA

33,677,891

26,583,345

47,340,293

77,379,878

41,206,681

Paraguay

15,362,517

14,762,486

9,175,470

9,223,589

11,703,425

Germany

8,618,761

6,498,142

4,556,665

5,788,632

8,483,979

France7,954,991

7,871,785

6,053,381

7,715,226

8,194,391

Mexico5,176,732

4,716,879

4,145,237

6,420,480

5,368,730

Uruguay

4,939,900

4,127,526

2,754,394

2,619,840

3,194,613

Colombia

4,854,017

3,124,487

2,651,951

3,698,394

3,400,822

Chile

4,432,643

3,899,903

3,547,191

4,765,508

3,634,530

Bolivia

4,239,296

3,606,545

2,230,036

3,512,9784,129,486

Peru

2,897,090

2,466,894

1,732,577

1,923,376

1,769,300

United Kingdom

1,555,062

1,217,471

2,716,974

4,805,319

3,445,986

India

1,494,892

2,574,225

2,090,699

4,122,560

6,751,770

Ecuador

1,404,519

987,223

693,992

1,019,640

881,487

Uzbekistan

1,312,855

807,162785,320

516,589

443,061

Italy

1,305,646

893,579

896,229

1,139,879

656,323

Portugal

1,219,638

490,499462,624

2,026,605

712,453

China

1,159,438

2,072,912

1,377,769

1,329,647

1,903,869

South Africa

1,041,968

1,118,595

850,372

1,340,593

1,598,813

Canada989,873

302,188333,998

310,088316,502

Table 12. Main Exported Fastener Categories by US$ FOB
SH6 Code

SH6 Description

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

731815Threaded screws and bolts, of iron or
steel, whether or not with their nuts andwashers (excl. coach screws and otherwood screws, screw hooks and screw
rings, self-tapping screws, lag screws,
stoppers, plugs and the like, threaded)

83,458,219

63,239,087

50,347,380

67,760,688

60,302,366

731816

Nuts of iron or steel

30,928,621

26,911,903

28,978,869

42,201,888

26,078,668

731829Non-threaded articles, of iron or steel

16,649,237

16,313,875

22,776,990

39,680,223

29,310,443

731819Threaded articles, of iron or steel, n.e.s.

11,594,599

10,652,388

7,507,368

9,588,402

11,156,429

731822

Washers of iron or steel (excl. spring
washers and other lock washers)

7,598,202

6,119,437

7,924,216

10,276,981

6,833,317

731814Self-tapping screws, of iron or steel(excl. wood screws)

4,216,984

3,911,200

2,984,853

3,033,972

3,362,096

731824

Cotters and cotter pins, of iron or steel

3,165,705

1,866,416

1,118,692

1,589,091

1,654,187

731812

Wood screws of iron or steel (excl.
coach screws)

3,149,292

3,193,722

1,969,836

1,242,090

2,026,945

731823

Rivets of iron or steel (excl. tubular andbifurcated rivets for particular uses)

3,031,778

2,417,320

2,355,283

2,908,192

4,347,489

731821

Spring washers and other lock washers,of iron or steel

2,384,692

2,070,286

1,379,398

1,404,522

1,816,164

731811

Coach screws of iron or steel

1,231,042

1,508,897

1,724,811

903,965

1,524,631

731813Screw hooks and screw rings, of iron or
steel

269,524

248,993

139,647

135,084

151,025300

Fastener World no.202/2023 惠達雜誌Industry Focus
ExportTable 7 shows that the annual weight of fastener products exported from Brazil to
the world remained at about 22-25 thousand metric tons over the 2018-2022 period,
but then suddenly doubled in 2021 to about 50 thousand metric tons, then stabilized
and declined to about 30 thousand metric tons in 2022. To observe from the export
value (Table 10), the value of fasteners exported from Brazil to the world peaked at
US$180 million in 2019, while the lowest point was at US$129 million in 2020 when
the pandemic burst out. The record in 2022 outperformed that in 2021, and should
slowly rebound to the 2019 level if the growth trend remains unchanged.
Table 8 shows the top 20 major export destinations of Brazil in 2022. The top 5
countries were Argentina, Paraguay, the United States, Uruguay, and Germany, withthe export weights of 14.2 thousand tons, 4,600 tons, 4,100 tons, 1,200 tons, and 1,100
tons, respectively. Among them, about 46% were exported to Argentina. The data also
show that Brazilian fasteners were mainly sold to the American market (especially
South America). If we look at the export value (Table 11), the ranking basically did
not change a lot, and the top 5 rankings were Argentina, the United States, Paraguay,
Germany, and France, with the export value of US$ 53 million, US$ 33 million, US$
15 million, US$ 8 million, and US$ 7 million, respectively.
To view the exported fastener categories, in terms of net export weight (Table 9),
the top 3 major fastener products exported from Brazil to the world in 2022 were ironand steel screws & bolts (731815), iron and steel nuts (731816), and iron and steel nonthreaded articles (731819), and in terms of export value (Table 12), the top 3 fastenerproducts exported from Brazil to the world in the same year were iron and steel screws& bolts (731815), iron and steel nuts (731816), and iron and steel non-threaded articles(731829).

Summary
Brazil is currently Taiwan’s 2nd largest fastener export destination in Latin
America, but its proportion in 2022 only accounted for less than 0.5% of Taiwan’s
total fastener export. Compared to Mexico, which has accounted for more than 2%of Taiwan’s total exports of fasteners, there is still much room for Taiwan’s fastenerexport to Brazil. And, with the fact that Taiwan is still among Brazil’s top 5 fastener
import sources, Brazilian buyers show a certain demand for Taiwanese fasteners.
If Taiwanese fastener suppliers would like to enhance the development of Latin
America, Brazil (in addition to Mexico) may also be a good approach and market
worthy of strengthening the development.
Article by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chief of Fastener World
Copyright owned by Fastener World惠達雜誌 Fastener World no.202/2023

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