Hardware & Fastener Components Magazine Issue No.60 by Fastener-World

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Cover Story >>

Brass Inserts & Self-Clinching Fasteners by CTSPHigh Yield Rate Passes Automotive and Electronic Component Market Requirements Excellent Quality Synchronized with Europe, USA and Japan

Contact: General Manager Lee

Chin Tai Sing Precision Manufactory (CTSP), which has always regarded high Email: inquiry@ctsp-insert.com.tw quality as the guiding principle of business operation, has a global business territory and has established long-term and stable cooperative relationships with many customers. Over the past years, CTSP has maintained the spirit of synchronizing with the quality requirements of customers in Europe, USA, and Japan, and has produced a wide range of standard and special brass inserts, self-clinching fasteners, and customized parts with outstanding quality through meticulous and stringent quality control strategies and sophisticated machining technologies. The team strives to pursue a high quality level of products close to 0ppm, which has not only gained itself the dual certification of ISO 9001 Quality Management System and IATF 16949 Automotive Quality Management System, but also won for itself a ticket to the global automotive and electronic parts supply chain.

Committed to Producing Low-Pollution Products In recent years, in response to the implementation of the EU carbon tax and the global trend of netzero carbon reduction in the manufacturing industry, CTSP has also responded to the trend by actively introducing the concept of environmental awareness into its production line, accelerating the upgrading of manufacturing processes, and endeavoring to provide the automotive and electronic components customers with higher quality fasteners with lower levels of pollution, and at the same time, providing PPAP documents, IMDS or ISIR to meet the needs of customers along the automotive supply chain. “Our general and custom products, as well as parts made of stainless steel/aluminum and various other materials, have been highly acclaimed in the global high-end industry market. The RoHS environmental certification, ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949 certificates that we have obtained so far are also the best testaments to our quality management," said CTSP.

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金泰興黃銅埋入件、壓鉚扣件高良率通過車用、電子零件市場苛求

High Capacity & Tolerance Precision Considering that customers in the European and U.S. markets attach great importance to quality and product performance and that their demand is highly changeable, CTSP's excellent technical team continues to devote themselves to the R&D of new products and work together with customers to develop products that satisfy their needs through customization capabilities and services regarded as a strong support by customers. Meanwhile, CTSP continues to move forward at a steady pace to strengthen the quality of production and appropriately upgrade their automated production and inspection equipment, with the goal of developing top-quality inserts, self-clinching fasteners, and custom parts with the tolerance or precision within the range of +-0.01mm.

Batch No. Based Manufacturing Management for Real-time Order Status Tracking CTSP's current monthly production can reach more than 20 million pieces and advanced automated equipment such as image measuring instruments, optical sorting machines, packaging machines, etc. have been also introduced into its manufacturing procedure. Also, a team of professional technicians with an average of more than 20 years of experience is deployed to monitor the operation of the production line and deal with abnormalities, fully demonstrating its ability to cope with substantial incoming orders from the global market and allowing European and U.S. customers having high requirements for product quality to be free from worries. "We’ve been handling every customer’s order with the 0PPM standard and we’ve been also the first among industry players in Taiwan to introduce the “Batch No. Based Manufacturing Management” into our process, so that our customers can track the progress of their orders in real time. Our insistence on quality has not only been thoroughly implemented in our employees, equipment, and services, but has also been internalized into our core values for corporate development," said CTSP.

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Company Focus >>

UAF-certified, Eco-friendly, Non-metallic Washers

Yi Hung Washer

stablished in Shulin District in New Taipei City (Taiwan) for nearly 30 years, Yi Hung produces precision plastic washers, as well as plastic screws, nuts, electronic stamped parts, terminals. Their greatest strengths are on-time delivery, excellent quality, friendly service, competitive pricing, and the ability to manufacture regardless of the number of orders. Flexible production and customized design, supplemented by UAF (United Accreditation Foundation) and ISO 9001 certificates, ensure that their quality control is improved and that customers can get top quality products.

Specializing in Non-metallic Flat Washers in Diverse Materials Yi Hung’s precision washers are mainly in small sizes with thickness up to 1.5mm, but can be made in thickness above 1.5mm if customers require. Materials available include Nylon 6/66, Polyslider, POM, PEEK, X-30, NOMEX, PP, Mylar, PC, PVC, HDPE, LDPE, Kapton, Teflon, Fibre, Bakelite, rubber, felt wool, etc., offering much freedom of choice.

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President Mr. Ching-Ya Shih said Yi Hung has one of the best customization capabilities in the industry. To provide better service to the fastener industry, he can modify the inside diameter of washers for clients to form not just circular shapes but also others. Special geometry makes it easy for clients to insert washers without dropping them. Furthermore, they had successfully manufactured rare special washers with an inner diameter less than 1.00mm. President Shih said his factory has more than 2,800 standard and special-sized dies. He said: “No matter if your desired shape is inner circular,

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outer circular or a special variation, we can manufacture as long as the washer is flat and under 70mm in size.” Skillful precision washer manufacturing technique is the gold standard that has made Yi Hung’s reputation known in the automotive and electronic component industries.

Strict Quality Control and Reasonable Price Yi Hung has an annual manufacturing capacity up to 1.2 billion pcs, and they use 2D projectors to check dimensions. Dimension measurements are taken every 2 hours during the manufacturing process, and again during the quality control stage before packaging to make sure there are no problems before shipping. They also strive to provide price-competitive products. If a client needs products in large volumes, Yi Hung can use injection molding to lower the client’s cost; if there is little volume needed, they can resort to stamping.

Global Exposure & Market Expansion A ll of their products comply with EU environmental regulations and are exported to Europe, the U.S., Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and even Australia. In the coming year, they will increase global exposure through exhibitions and media publicity. They will stick to sustainable management, quality first and better service, and everyone from the entire company will continue to work hard to create product values for customers.

UAF認證的環保非金屬華司-益弘華司 Contact: Ms. Shu Fang, Lin / Jackie E-mail：sales@yh-washer.com.tw Web: www.yh-washer.com.tw Skype: yihungwasher

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Hardware & Fastener Components World News >>

Hardware & 五金產業新聞 Fastener Components World News

compiled by Fastener World

Industry Development Cordless Power Tools Market Size Expected to Reach US$ 39.2 Billion, Exhibiting a CAGR of 9.1% by 2033 無線電動工具市場規模將在 2023 年達到 392 億美元，年增長 9.1% The cordless power tools market revenue was estimated at US$ 15.3 billion in 2022 and a re anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2023 to 2033. By the end of 2033, the market is expected to reach a value of US$ 39.2 billion. The cordless power tools market has experienced significant growth and innovation. Among the many factors driving this market expansion, the emergence of interoperable batteries has played a crucial role. Interoperable batteries, also known as universal or cross-platform batteries, can be used interchangeably across different cordless power tool brands and models.

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Companies are recognizing the need for interoperable batteries and collaborating to manufacture such batteries for the convenience of consumers. For instance, In July 2020, Bosch and Husqvarna Group's Gardena division joined forces to create an alliance. Together with other renowned brands, they introduced the Power for All Alliance, a multi-vendor battery system that will power various home products. This alliance was built upon Bosch's battery technology, forming a solid foundation for collaboration. Such collaborative efforts from companies are driving the market towards shifting from traditional corded to cordless power tools. Several manufacturing companies of power tools are driving the shift from traditional corded tools to cordless power tools. For instance, WORX/Rockwell Tools have moved to 80% cordless tools in the past few years from 50% corded and 50% cordless. DeWalt is also focusing significantly on cordless power tools, manufacturing more cordless power tools than corded ones. Milwaukee Tool has also decided to discontinue corded versions of tools if cordless tools outperform them. These companies are significantly influencing consumer buying habits and pushing forward the cordless power tools market.

UK Initiates Sunset Review Investigation on Imported Steel Products 英國對進口鋼產品啟動日落複審調查 On September 4, 2023, UK Trade Remedies Authority issued a notice to initiate a sunset review investigation on certain imported steel products, including non-alloyed and other alloy wire rods. On October 1, 2020, upon the application of the UK Secretary of State for International Trade, the UK initiated a transitional safeguard investigation on imported steel products, and on May 21, 2021, the Trade Remedies Investigation Directorate (TRID) of the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) made a final safeguard ruling on the imported steel products.

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The U.S. Makes the First Antisubsidy Sunset Review Final Ruling on Stainless Steel Flanges 美國對不鏽鋼法蘭作出第一次反補貼日落複審終裁 O n Aug u st 31, 2 0 23, t he U.S. D epa r t ment of Commerce issued a notice of its First Expedited Sunset Review Final Determination of Anti-subsidies on Stainless Steel Flanges Imported from India, finding that the elimination of the countervailing duty in this case would result in the continuation or recurrence of subsidies on the products involved in the case in India at a rate of subsidies ranging from 5.21% to 256.45%. On September 6, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the initiation of antidumping and countervailing investigations of st a in less steel f la nges impor ted f rom China and India. On Ma rch 20, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its preliminary antidumping determinations of stainless steel flanges imported from China and India. On April 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its final countervailing deter m inat ions of sta in less steel f la nges imported from China. On June 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its final countervailing determinations of stainless steel flanges imported from China. On June 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its final anti-dumping determinations with respect to stainless steel flanges imported from China. On August 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its final anti-dumping and countervailing determinations with respect to stainless steel flanges imported from India. On May 1, 2023, t he U.S. Depa r tment of Commerce instituted its first anti-dumping and countervailing sunset review investigations with respect to stainless steel flanges imported from China and India.

Hardware & Fastener Components World News >> Comparison of China's Fastener Exports in Jan-Jul 2023 with Taiwan's

Taiwan's Fastener Exports in January July 2023

2023 年 1-7 月中國與台灣扣件出口比較

2023 一至七月台灣扣件品項出口統計

In the first seven months of 2023, China exported a total of approximately 2.56 million tons of fasteners to the world, a decrease of 6.05% from the same period of 2022, while Taiwan exported approximately 760,000 tons of fasteners to the world, a decrease of 25.13% from the same period of the previous year. The size of China's fastener exports is approximately 3.36 times larger than that of Taiwan. Compared with Taiwan's high reliance on the European and U.S. markets, only 30% of China's fasteners are exported to Europe and the U.S., and a large proportion of fasteners are exported to ASEAN/Japan/South Korea/ India, as well as other regions outside of Europe and the U.S. In the first seven months of 2023, China's and Taiwan’s fastener exports to Europe, the U.S. and the UK both showed a decline, but China’s exports to ASEAN/Japan/South Korea/India showed a growth of about 3.5% from the same period of 2022.

Taiwan exported about 760,000 tons of fasteners to the world in January-July 2023, a decrease of 25.13% from the same period in 2022. In terms of value, Taiwan exported about 2.91 million tons of fasteners to the world in January-July 2023, a decrease of 24.79% compared with the same period in the previous year. However, the average unit price (USD/kg) increased slightly by 0.5% to USD 3.827. Nearly 80% of the exports went to Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom. Exports to Europe and the United States, ASEAN, Japan, S. Korea and India all showed a decline of more than 20% in volume or value compared with the same period in 2022, but the average unit price of exports to the EU27 (including the United Kingdom) grew against the trend by 5.5% to reach US$3.726. In terms of weight, the top 5 fastener categories exported from Taiwan to the world in the first 7 months of 2023 were other screws and bolts, nuts, self-tapping screws, wood screws and steel nails (others) and the export volumes of these categories were 375,000 tons, 132,000 tons, 130,000 tons, 65,000 tons and 22,000 tons, respectively. Compared with the same period in 2022, these categories all show a downward trend.

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In terms of export value, Taiwan exported about US$2.91 billion of fasteners to the world in the first 7 months of 2023, a decrease of nearly 25% compared to the same period in 2022. China, on the other hand, exported about US$6.4 billion of fasteners to the world, a decrease of about 11.54% from the same period last year. All of Taiwan’s and China's fastener exports to various markets in the world declined. In terms of average unit price, Taiwan's fastener exports to Europe and the U.S. landed at US$3.6-3.8 per kilogram, fastener export price to ASEAN, Japan, S. Korea and India were US$4.1-4.5 per kilogram, while China's fastener export price to the global market landed at US$2.2-3 per kilogram. In the first 7 months of 2023, the average unit price of Taiwan's fastener exports to the EU grew the most significantly to 5.51%, while the average unit price of China's fastener exports to the world appeared a drop of around 5-7.5% from the same period last year.

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Hardware & Fastener Components World News >> Taiwan Climate Change Agency: EU Must Adjust Free Allocation System in CBAM or It Will Create Trade Barrier 氣候變遷署副主任：「CBAM 必須調整免費核配方式，否則形成貿易障礙」 CBAM is on a trial run from October. Initially, no fee will be charged, but importers will be required to submit carbon emission data. The Deputy Director of Preparatory Office of Climate Change Agency (Taiwan) said that CBAM is mostly based on a free allocation system which will be turned into an auction-based system starting in 2034. The price is about 100 euros per ton which is high, but because of the adoption of free allocation for most of the emitted carbon, only a small fraction of about 2 to 3% of the carbon emissions need to pay a carbon fee, which is different from Taiwan which charges a fee on every ton of carbon. Therefore, when CBAM is officially on the road in 2026, the European Union must adjust the free allocation method and integrate with the calculation method of every country; otherwise it will form a different trade barrier.

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According to the statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of Taiwan, 248 product categories will be impacted by CBAM, and Taiwan is involved in 212 of them, mostly steel products. In 2022, Taiwan's basic metals and products accounted for 7.69% of its overall export volume, 15% of which were exported to the EU and the exported products were mainly steel, metal fasteners, and aluminum.

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The Indian Government Rolls out Mandatory Quality Norms for Nuts, Bolts 印度政府祭出螺帽、螺栓強制性品質標準 The Indian government has implemented mandatory quality norms for nuts, bolts and fasteners to curb the import of sub-standard goods and boost domestic manufacturing of these products. Items cannot be produced, sold, traded, imported and stocked unless they bear the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark. A notification in this regard was issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on July 21. Now, manufacturing, storing and sale of non-BIS certified products are prohibited as per the BIS Act, 2016. Violation of the provision of the BIS Act can lead to imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of at least Rs 2 lakh for the first offence. In case of second and subsequent offences, the fine will increase to a minimum of Rs 5 lakh and extend up to 10 times the value of goods or articles.

Hardware & Fastener Components World News >> South Africa Extends Fastener Safeguard Measures for 3 Years 南非延長螺絲防衛措施 3 年 International Trade Administration Committee of South Africa (ITAC) decided, from July 24 this year, to extend the three-year high-tariff defense measures on steel or iron screws, bolts and hexagonal nuts. The measure is divided into three phases to respectively levy 48.04%, 46.04% and 44.04% defense duty.

Chinese New Energy Cars Accelerates Entry to ASEAN 中國新能源汽車加速進入東協 ASEAN has become a popular destination for Chinese exports of new energy vehicles. The market share of Chinese automobile brands in the ASEAN region is gradually expanding. In 2022, Wuling Motors' sales in Indonesia exceeded 30,000 units, a year-on-year growth of 17%; Great Wall Motor has nearly 20,000 ASEAN smart car owners; BYD has been the champion of Thailand's new energy vehicle sales for several months in a row.

SAFMA's provided information to apply for the extension of the measure includes initial recognition that the South African fastener industry in the original defense measures (August 1, 2020 to July 31, 2023) has carried out industrial adjustment, but if the defense measures are terminated, the South African industry will suffer from the reduction in sales, shrinkage of production capacity, declined market share and labor employment, and reduction in equipment utilization and revenue, among other damages; therefore, it was decided to extend the defense measures and finally a decision on the extension of the defense measures was made.

BYD announced the construction of a passenger car plant in Thailand; SAIC and other Chinese automobile companies have also announced the construction of overseas passenger car and new energy vehicle component production bases in Thailand.

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In recent years, ASEAN countries have intensively launched new green i ndust r y pol icies. For exa m ple, Malaysia has introduced a series of tax incentives for imported and locally assembled pure electric vehicles, including exemptions from import duty and domestic tax for imported pu re elect r ic veh icles. Of f icia ls have planned to build 10,000 public charging facilities nationwide by 2025, and by 2030, EVs will account for 15% of the country's total vehicle sales. In Indonesia, all vehicles of state agencies and their regional offices are required to be gradually converted to EVs, and the national EV charging network is being expanded. Indonesia's national electricity company said it is striving to build 25,000 EV charging stations by 2030. Thailand has lowered tariffs on impor ts of new energy vehicles and pa r ts, and provided purchase subsidies for new energy vehicles.

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Hardware & Fastener Components World News >> Indian Steel Tycoon Advises the Government to Impose Import Tariffs 印度鋼鐵大亨建議政府徵收進口關稅 To counter U.S. tariffs and European carbon taxes, Indian billionaire industrialist and steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal is hoping for the government to impose similar taxes to level the playing field for Indian companies. "Each region is considering their own protective measures. The U.S. has an import tariff on steel. Europe has the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The European Union is subsidizing or supporting their own industry by providing a lot of money, while companies in other regions are not getting this subsidy support. I hope India will also put up non-tariff barriers or steel import barriers," Sajjan said in an interview.

Companies Development STMicroelectronics and Würth Elektronik Collaborate on a High-performance Power Tool 意法半導體與伍爾特電子合作開發高性能電動工具 Würth Elektronik and STMicroelectronics jointly developed a demo using a Würth power tool. The design, which efficiently drives a low-voltage Brushless DC motor, is ideal for handheld power-tool applications. Moreover, the design includes all the necessary user interfaces required to control the motor’s trigger, speed, and direction.

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Over the past few years, STMicroelectronics and the passive components manufacturer Würth Elektronik have established a strong collaboration developing reference designs that leverage the best of each companies’ portfolios. By combining active components from STMicroelectronics with passive components from Würth Elektronik, the companies can offer readymade turnkey or customizable solutions to customers.

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”Working with Würth Elektronik, STMicroelectronics has shown its capabilit y to work wit h pa r t ners to ext ract t he best performance from its product offer and to jointly develop system solutions addressing the most challenging and complex application needs,” sa id Ricardo De Sa Earp, Executive Vice President, General-Purpose Microcontroller Sub-Group, STMicroelectronics. “The development of a cost-effective, high-quality reference design that forms the basis for outstanding power tools is another example of the fruitful collaboration we share with STMicroelectronics,” said Alexander Gerfer, CTO, Würth Elektronik eiSos Group.

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Hardware & Fastener Components World News >> Japanese Hand Tool Maker TONE Celebrates 85th Anniversary

Patriot Bolt and Fastener Makes the "Inc. 5000" at No. 1716 in 2023

日本手動工具大廠 TONE 慶祝成立 85 周年

Patriot Bolt and Fastener 公司入榜 2023 年「Inc. 5000 強企業」

Mr. Daishiro Yano, President and Representative Director, expressed the following in a press release: "TONE was established on August 6, 1938 and was the first company in Japan to manufacture and sell socket wrenches. After that, in order to become an infrastructure company in the industrial world, we expanded our lineup to include not only manual tools but also power tools, labor-saving tools, and torque control devices. We have developed our corporate activities based on the idea that TONE can solve all problems, and we were able to celebrate the 85th anniversary of our founding on August 6, 2023. We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the support and patronage we have received from all of you, and all of our employees will continue to do our best to contribute to the society and our customers. Thank you for your continued support."

NAFCO Orderbook Full Into 2024 豐達科訂單排到明年 Demand in the aerospace ma rket has increased dramatically following the end of the pandemic, boosting sales of fasteners for NAFCO. NAFCO said the shortage of materials has been alleviated, and orderbook is full into next year. In 2022, NAFCO's revenue recovered to 75% to 80% of its pre-pandemic level. It is still difficult to estimate the growth rate of the whole 2023. We will have to wait and see how the market fluctuates. NAFCO specializes in aerospace and automotive fasteners, with fasteners for aerospace engines in particular being the mainstay. Last year, aerospace fasteners and machined parts accounted for 83.43% of the company's total revenue, while industrial fasteners accounted for 16.57%.

Chin Well Holdings Reports Earnings Results for Q4 and Full Year Ended June 30, 2023

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晉緯控股公佈第四季及 2023 年度財報 For the fourth quarter, the company reported sales were MYR 95.61 million compared to MYR 196.87 million a year ago. Net income was MYR 5.08 million compared to MYR 27.61 million a year ago. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations were MYR 0.0177 compared to MYR 0.0964 a year ago. For the full year, sales were MYR 456.45 million compared to MYR 657.84 million a year ago. Net income was MYR 39.46 million compared to MYR 95.99 million a year ago. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations were MYR 0.1378 compared to MYR 0.335 a year ago.

Patriot Bolt and Fastener ranks No. 1716 on the 2023 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. 2023 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. The prestigious ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segment--its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Facebook, Chobani, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other household name brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. "We owe our success to the amazing efforts of our team. Their dedication to excellence, innovation, and working together has brought us to new levels and made us a leading company in the industry," said Kris Kolb, Founder and CEO of Patriot Bolt and Fastener. The Inc. 5000 class of 2023 represents companies that have driven rapid revenue growth while navigating inflationary pressure, the rising costs of capital, and seemingly intractable hiring challenges. Among this year's top 500 companies, the average median three-year revenue growth rate was an astonishing 2,238 percent. This year's Inc. 5000 companies have added 1,187,266 jobs to the economy over the past three years.

Albolt Manufacturing Relocates to Rockford Albolt Manufacturing 遷廠至羅克福德 Albolt Manufacturing, a producer of specialty fasteners, announced that it has relocated operations from Addison, Illinois, to Rockford. Albolt is now located at 5055 26th Ave. in southeast Rockford. “The new location provides a larger, more efficiently designed facility,” Albolt General Manager Jeremy Rubens said in a news release. “With a larger footprint and more efficiently designed floorplan, Albolt now has greater capacity to produce the unique specialty fasteners that our customers need, more quickly.” Some of the products Albolt produces are specialty hex bolts, sockets, studs, nuts and pins. Albolt has been around that long. The company was founded just last year as a way to meet the increasing demand for high-quality specialty fasteners for use in specific industries.

Ridgid Celebrates 100-year Anniversary in 2023 Ridgid 今年慶祝成立 100 周年 RIDGID, of Emerson's professional tools portfolio, spends the year 2023 celebrating the 100-year Anniversary. “A lot has changed over the last century,” Heather McLin, vice-president of marketing, professional tools for Emerson said. “But one thing that has remained constant is the dedication of the skilled trades to build a stronger tomorrow. RIDGID is honored to be by their side every step of the way. “From our iconic pipe wrench that started it all to our newest tool solutions, every product we make is designed to help trade professionals get jobs done easier and more efficiently. That’s a legacy that will never change.”

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In 1923, the Ridge Tool Company invented the modern straight pipe wrench, introducing it to the world under their brand RIDGID. Since then, every step forward has been with the tradesperson in mind. Today, RIDGID’s pipe wrench design is the best-selling pipe wrench in the world and many of the wrenches that were sold back in the 1920s and 30s are still in use today.

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Hardware & Fastener Components World News >> Acquisitions OneMonroe Acquires Electronic Fasteners OneMonroe 併購 Electronic Fasteners Monroe Engineering has recently completed the acquisition of Electronic Fasteners, Inc. (EFI), a wholesale stocking distributor. From now on, Electronic Fasteners will be known as Monroe EFI. According to a press statement, the combined strength of the two companies is expected to lead to better customer service, expanded product offerings, and deeper supplier partnerships. OneMonroe is an ISO 9001:2015 certified global industr ial manufactur ing company, offering a broad product line and has a diverse customer base of manufacturers and distributors across several vertical markets.

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This means the Electronic Fastener team — now Monroe EFI — has expanded access to thousands of additional vendors and products through the nationwide OneMonroe network. The companies will operate much as before, but with the additional advantage of shared knowledge and products to serve the market better.

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Commercial Metals Company Acquires EDSCO Fasteners LLC Commercial Metals Company 併購 EDSCO Fasteners LLC Commercial Metals Company ("CMC") announced the purchase of EDSCO Fasteners LLC ("EDSCO"), a leading provider of anchoring solutions for the electrical transmission market, from MiddleGround Capital. EDSCO's custom engineered line of anchor cages, bolts, and fasteners are manufactured principally from rebar and used primarily to secure high voltage electrical transmission poles to concrete foundations. EDSCO serves the North American market from four manufacturing plants located in Texas, Utah, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Since its founding in 1985, the company has grown to become the nation's largest provider of anchor cages for concrete reinforcement and has developed a strong reputation for customer service and reliability. "This acquisition further advances CMC's leadership position in construction reinforcement and extends our capabilities to new and growing applications," said Barbara R. Smith, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. "EDSCO's innovative reinforcement solutions are well-positioned to benefit from the long-term transition to renewable energy, which will require extensive investment in electrical transmission capacity and wind power installations."

Altenloh, Brinck & Co. Celebrates 200 Year Anniversary Altenloh, Brinck & Co. 慶祝成立 200 周年 ALTENLOH, BRINCK & CO (ABC) is celebrating an unbelievable milestone of two centuries of existence! Founded in 1823 in the town now known as Ennepetal, Germany, ABC was the first in that country to produce screws on an industrial scale and looks back on a long tradition dedicated to innovative progress. The most well-known product manufactured by the global, family-run company is the SPAX screw, which revolutionized the fastener sector and continues to be one of the most innovative fasteners in the marketplace today.

Industry Focus >>

The automobile industry is a major user of steel. Volvo Cars said that steel is a major carbon emitting industry, accounting for 20% to 35% of the carbon footprint of each vehicle. The automotive industry is also concerned about the development of green steel in order to reduce carbon emission and minimize carbon taxes. Volvo announced that it will use steel made with hydrogen to form automobiles’ body structure, making it the first automaker in the world to use green steel. Mercedes-Benz announced that it will use green steel in its cars by 2025. Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that in the next 30 years, the global steel industry will need to invest an average of US$145 billion per year in order to "decarbonize" steel, which will increase the cost of steel production by 30%. The most urgent task of decarbonization for the steel industry is to solve the problem of technical cost. Many steelmakers still use coal-fired blast furnaces, which is doubly carbon-intensive (coking coal is used to absorb oxygen from iron ore, and air polluting energy is used to heat up the blast furnace); instead, a more environmentally friendly approach is to use DRI (direct reduced iron) as the fuel for electric arc furnaces.

Green Steel in

the Frontline of Incoming CBAM CBAM當前，綠色鋼鐵進行式 Europe Swedish steelmakers are now actively developing the use of hydrogen as a substitute for fossil fuels, and have succeeded in producing the world's first green steel, which will be the first to be launched globally. Hybrit— a joint venture between Swedish steelmaker SSAB, state-owned energy company Vattenfall, and state-owned mining company LKAB—aims to reduce the carbon footprint of steel production. Hybrit uses solar and wind power equipment to generate electricity which is then used to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen, known as green hydrogen. The hydrogen reacts and only water vapor is produced, not carbon dioxide. Instead of using coal, Hybrit uses hydrogen as a reducing agent in steel production. Hydrogen combines with the oxygen in iron ore to produce only iron and water vapor. The water vapor condenses during the process and can be recycled, thus eliminating the generation of carbon dioxide in the first place. Hybrit plans to expand the production of green hydrogen steel to commercial scale by 2026, by which time it will be ready to supply the market. This will reduce Sweden's total CO2 emission by 10% and help Finland to reduce them by about 7 percent. In addition, another Swedish steel start-up, H2 Green Steel, expects to start producing green steel in 2024 and to have an annual production capacity of 5 million tons by 2030. Besides Sweden, German steel group Salzgitter expects to provide the first batch of green steel by the end of 2022; major steel maker ArcelorMittal plans to build a zero-carbon plant in Spain which will produce 1.6 million tons of green steel in 2025; and major steel maker ThyssenKrupp will invest US$1.9 billion in hydrogen direct reduction. ThyssenKrupp, a major steelmaker, has invested US$1.9 billion in a 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

For many years, steel has been one of the industries with the highest carbon emission, and it is also one of the first targets of EU’s Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The production of steel requires using large quantities of coal. Iron ore is put into a steel furnace, resulting in iron oxide, and then hot air is blown into the hightemperature furnace, where coke will melt iron and produce carbon dioxide. For every ton of steel produced, nearly two tons of carbon dioxide are emitted, making the steel industry responsible for 7-8% of the world's carbon emission. Steel is the main material for fasteners. Although the research and development of green steel has already been explored before 2010, the development of green steel has gained more attention in recent years as the EU carbon tax is approaching.

041

Industry Focus >> hydrogen direct reduction system to produce green steel without the use of rare, high-grade iron, and will produce 2.5 million tons of low-carbon steel by 2026. In Italy, the Danieli Group, Leonardo and Saipem have announced a partnership to transform the steel industry into a green one. The three companies have signed a framework agreement to participate in a sustainable transformation project for the steel industry's energy-intensive 1st-level factories, and will jointly provide technologies and services to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from steel production. GravitHy, a joint venture between many European and American companies, announced that it will build the country's first green steel plant in the Fos region of France in 2024, with an investment of €2.2 billion and an estimated capacity of 2 million tons of direct reduced iron (DRI) per year. The plant will be fully operational by 2027.

The U.S. Boston Metal in the U.S. is revolutionizing the steel industry by commercializing a patented molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) process to produce green steel, with a goal of producing 1 billion tons. The company's MOE process uses renewable electricity to convert all grades of iron ore into steel in an energy-efficient, single-step process. MOE produces no carbon dioxide and does not require the treatment of wastewater, hazardous chemicals or precious metal catalysts.

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Asia India's Tata Steel has begun its efforts to switch to green hydrogen-based steelmaking in order to massively reduce carbon emission from steel. The company aims to reduce carbon emission by 30% by 2030, 75% by 2035 and achieve net zero by 2050. The company has also launched a direct reduced iron (DRI) manufacturing facility, which will begin production in 2030 and will supply at least 200,000 tons of carbon-neutral-equivalent steel per year in the future. The company has also launched the Zeremis Carbon Lite series of low-carbon green steels, which reduce carbon emission by 30%. For customers with higher carbon reduction targets, Tata Steel said it can be allocated additional carbon reduction certificates and that these low-carbon green steels are suitable for use in industries such as automotive, packaging and white goods. In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been discussing with automotive and steel industry groups to promote green steel manufacturing processes and carbon reduction. Initial estimates suggest that the overall investment in the steel industry will be about JPY 10 trillion. Nippon Steel has formed an alliance of hydrogen-based reduced iron in collaboration with JFE Steel and Kobe Steel, and is working to achieve Hydrogen Direct Reduction (H-DR), with trials to be launched in 2024-2025. This technology uses only hydrogen to extract iron from lowgrade iron ore which contains less iron, and then melts it in an electric furnace. South Korean steel companies are also actively developing new furnaces. Dongkuk Steel has initiated research on ultra electric

044 惠達雜誌 Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Dean Tseng

furnace, and plans to complete the research by 2028, focusing on the development of energy-cycling ultra processing technology to improve the efficiency of electric furnaces. The key to an ultra electric furnace is speed of operation and energy efficiency. By speeding up operation, electricity consumption can be reduced, thereby the reduction of carbon emission. Dongkuk Steel plans to improve the way it preheats and loads scrap steel, and to utilize the Eco-Arc electric furnaces, an environmentally friendly steelmaking facility, to improve power and energy efficiency, leading to the development of ultra electric furnaces, which can reduce power consumption by 30%. Hyundai Steel has the largest electric arc furnace production capacity in Korea, at more than 10 million tons annually. The company is working on a carbon-neutral manufacturing system called Hy-Cube and introducing a hydrogen-based steel manufacturing system, a unique integrated manufacturing system based on hydrogen-based manufacturing process. HyCube is an advanced process that improves on the existing electric arc furnace, providing greater flexibility in terms of raw materials, manufacturing process, and products, and is capable of producing a full range of products, including rods and bars, that were originally produced in electric arc furnaces. POSCO plans to invest US$462.9 million to build a new electric arc furnace with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons at its Gwangyang plant in January 2024, which will be launched in 2026. The company will push on carbon reduction by introducing electric furnaces until hydrogen reduction refining becomes commercially viable to replace the current blast furnaces. Unlike Europe’s direct reduced iron manufacturing that uses high-grade pellets as feedstock, POSCO's HyREX hydrogen reduced steelmaking technology produces reduced iron directly from iron ore fines. POSCO's green hydrogen technology will be combined with HyREX to produce steel when it is ripe. Taiwan CSC has collaborated with Jinn Her Enterprise, a major manufacturer in the fastener industry, and succeeded in developing and producing 150 tons of carbon-neutral steel, which is now actively going through various international certifications and is expected to pass by yearend, thereby relieving pressure on fastener export for Taiwan which has an annual output value of hundreds of billions of Taiwanese dollars. In China, Baosteel and Schaeffler Group signed a tactical agreement on the sustainable development of green steel. The two companies will work together to create a green steel supply chain in the area of steel decarbonization based on a shared concept of sustainable development.

Green Steel May Help Downstream Business Owners Take Actions for CBAM CBAM will impose a carbon tariff on steel and fasteners sold from other countries to the EU. In many countries fastener suppliers are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which are relatively weak in terms of their ability to reduce carbon emission. If upstream steel manufacturers can provide green steel, it will help downstream suppliers calculate their carbon fees and reduce carbon emission.

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45 25

5 45

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Special Feature >> 社論 : 全球化已死？碳稅時代？「扣件商業生態系」戰略刻不容緩

Editorial-

End of Globalization? Carbon Tax Era? Time is of the Essence for

“Fastener Business Ecology Tactic”

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

rom Donald Trump’s to Joe Biden’s regime, the world enters the era of intense upheaval. We are past the former trade friction between the U.S. and China, the pandemic, and now we arrive at the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, inflation and US-China tech race. The past three years are pivotal in mankind history. That is when Hermann Simon, a professor born in Germany who coined the term Hidden Champions, published Hidden Champions: Ascent and Transformation— the latest update of his first work. In his updated discourse, he brought up the significance of Taiwan as a resilient nation being a hidden champion. This book devote s t wo chapters to analyzing Taiwanese hidden champions, showing the importance he attaches to Taiwan’ s position on the world stage. He mentioned Taiwan is highly similar to Germany in terms of hidden champions and industrial structure. Germany tops the world with a number as many as 1,573 hidden champions. Taiwan ranks 8th with 105 hidden champions, above China at the 9 th place with 97 hidden champions. The German hidden champions are nationwide, while in Taiwan, hidden champions exist in multiple industries. Taiwanese fastener industry alone has quite a number of potential hidden champions. Read along as we invite you to look into the present and future of Taiwanese hidden fastener champions in reference of Hermann's perspective.

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Taiwan Has a Strong Economic Engine According to Hermann’s research, the top 3 nations with the highest total export values during 2010 and 2019 are China (USD 20.9 trillion), the U.S. (USD 15.4 trillion) and Germany (USD 13.9 trillion). Taiwan comes in 10th with a total export value of USD 3.1 trillion which puts Taiwan’ s export momentum in the world’ s top 10 ranking. It is even more shocking if we look at the export value per capita, where Taiwan comes in second right after Germany. Based on the statistical data rounded up by Fastener World, Taiwan exported USD 38.727 billion worth of fasteners from 2010 to 2019 (Figure 1). It accounted for 1.2% of Taiwan’ s total export value in the same time range, contributing to a considerable extent to Taiwan's total export value.

Definition of a Hidden Champion The three requirements that Hermann sets on a hidden champion are: 1.

Ranked among the world’s top 3 in its market category, or ranked 1st on the continent where the champion is located.

Revenues below 5 billion euros. (Significantly raised from 900 million euros set in his first book.)

Low popularity among the general public.

The top three nations in terms of the number of hidden champions identified by Herman are Germany (1,573), the U.S. (350) and Japan (283). Here, Taiwan comes in 8th with 105 and China coming in 9th with 97 identified by Hermann. According to White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan, 2022, Taiwan had over 1.59 million SMEs in 2021, accounting for more than 98% of all enterprises. Among them, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) identified 76 hidden champions. However, by Hermann’s definition, the number of potential hidden champions could go beyond the number disclosed by MOEA. Right in Taiwan’ s fastener industry there are multiple enterprises with the potential, including Tong Hwei Enterprise (stainless steel fasteners), Jinn Her Enterprise (hexagon bolts), Fang Sheng Screw (hexagon socket screws), QST International (automotive fasteners), Ying Ming Industry (high-strength fasteners), Sheh Kai Precision and Sheh Fung Screws (small construction screws), Bi-Mirth (wood screws), Kwantex Research (wood screws), Jern Yao Enterprises (forming machines) and other dozens of iconic enterprises that I can’t all fit into this article.

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3,500,000,000 3,000,000,000

2010

2011

2014

2015

2016

2017

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Hermann analyzed and characterized hidden champions into the following features: 1.

80% of them are innovators. Product innovation and process innovation each accounts for half of their business. A corporate culture that encourages innovation, motivating employees to be more committed to innovation and patent applications than other companies do.

Low annual employee turnover rate at only 2.7%, with high levels of employee loyalty and satisfaction. Hidden champions do their best to avoid layoffs, which helps gaining international recognition.

Putting focus on education and training.

Growing persistently but not abruptly or irregularly.

The factors driving their growth are globalization, innovation, product pipeline expansion, deepening of value chain, and service expansion.

High survival rate.

Ambitious and fervent corporate leaders. To them, it’s either coming out on top or not starting it at all.

Dedication to a specific field. All they think about is productivity. Stable increase in productivity to reduce labor costs per unit.

They think globally. Take RATIONAL®, this world leader in commercial kitchen appliance uses 59 languages to spread corporate news.

10. Their market leadership and market shares are earned with excellent performance, not with price-cutting. Taiwan has quite a number of fastener and related companies with part of the qualities of a hidden champion. One example is BiMirth throwing a large annual budget in innovative R&D, rolling out patent products, renewing certificates that are acquired overseas, and collaborating with Metal Industries Research & Development Centre as well as Industrial Technology Research Institute to enhance metal processing technology. Other than that, Taiwan's fastener industry had its fair share of troubles from domestic price-cutting wars in its early days, and now the majority consensus is to stake on optimized production lines and elevated technology to increase profitability and curb low-price competition.

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2018

2019

3,969,114,428

4,316,380,032

4,090,303,303

3,610,883,236

2013

3,880,596,255

2012

4,048,948,068

3,679,741,858

4,000,000,000

3,586,618,369

4,500,000,000

3,808,037,696

5,000,000,000

3,066,814,297

Global Export Value in USD

5,500,000,000

4,638,685,129

6,000,000,000

2020

2021

6,128,854,810

Fig. 1. Taiwan's Global Fastener Export Value from 2010 and Onwards

5,319,398,407

Special Feature >>

2022 Year

The Challenges for Hidden Champions Last December, former TSMC president Morris Chang declared globalization is dead when he was speaking in a “tool-in ceremony” at Taiwan TSMC’s Arizona plant. According to Hermann’s research, in fact, globalization came to a standstill as early as 2010 in the wake of the Financial Crisis. "This development began long before the presidency of Trump, the BREXIT, increased trade sanctions, and the COVID-incurred disruption of global supply chain. Globalization was following a rocky path," said Hermann. One of the challenges for hidden champions is the death sentence on globalization. Hidden champions need free global trade to reach their full potential, and therefore Herman calls out to the world that we need to prop up globalization. However, it is clear that the current international geopolitical and economic landscape has turned global trade into something as “allowing overseas businesses to move across borders to homeland only on condition that such exchanges do not harm current or future national security, technological supremacy and economic leadership” termed by Morris, who continued, “But can this still be considered globalization? Globalization is over and time is up for free trade!” To that, Hermann put a reminder in his latest book stating that the environment, climate, energy consumption, consumer attitudes, trade frictions, and political tensions may also create new barriers to the growth of hidden champions. He estimates that 1% of hidden champions will be disqualified each year, yet he sees a grand future—digitization, ESG, carbon reduction, and business ecology— that could get them off the hook. I figure fastener readers now coming across these words may be thinking of CBAM in a trial run from this October.

Tactical Thinking on the Fastener Industry Sustainability and carbon reduction will be corporates’ ticket into the future international market. The big players are already on it, and that doesn’t spare the small and medium ones as well as hidden champions. The EU has fired the first shot going in on carbon border tax. Will other countries

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Special Feature >> follow suit to make up for their own financial gaps? No matter how this turns out, it's only a matter of time before the carbon tax era sets in. Ca rbon reduct ion is pa r t of ESG metrics, and therefore sustainability is one of the areas in which Hermann sees great opportunity for hidden champions. He points out that sustainability is mostly hinged on the upstream value chain, raw material sourcing, manufacturing processes, logistics, and the downstream value chain such as recycling, remanufacturing and circular economy also have a significant impact. Each and every process in these two areas is where he believes the hidden champions can bring out their expertise. What does this mean from the fastener industry perspective?

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The fastener manufacturing process can be coarsely divided into wire rod processing, head forming, secondary machining, thread rolling, heat treatment, surface treatment, optical sorting, packaging and warehousing, logistics, and it can be broken down into many more processes. Each process has the opportunity to be optimized and reduce carbon emission by introducing digital technology. For example, Best Quality Wire invented the "Auto Sludge Discharging & Oil Recycling Machine" which separates oil and water sludge from production lines. Their next step is to focus on revolutionary optimization of wire rod manufacturing process by developing a production line that integrates wire drawing, pickling, roughening, finishing, and phosphoric acid coating into a single process. This in a nutshell is process optimization. And if you can even go the extra length to reduce carbon emissions and transportation costs in the logistics process for yourself and your overseas clients, this is what will become a new opportunity in the future. Of course, we've also heard voices saying that sustainability upgrade and carbon reduction are costly and resource intensive. It means we need to be more efficient and systematic than ever before to meet the challenge. That's why Hermann's concept of "business ecology" could be a way out for the hidden champions and even other fastener companies. To put it into perspective, TSMC has its own huge supply chain that forms a great wall. Suppliers inside the wall follow TSMC on continuous improvement of technology and corporate value. Competitors outside the wall can hardly penetrate or destroy this supply chain. It is what a highly resilient business ecology is. On a broader perspective, what if Taiwan's hidden fastener champion is not limited to a single fastener company? What if it can be the entire Taiwanese fastener industry? Even if a Taiwanese fastener company

062 惠達雜誌

is not a hidden champion just yet, what if it can hop on the trend and jointly contribute to the hidden champion industry? According to Hermann's definition, an hidden champion's revenue must be less than 5 billion euros. In 2020, Taiwan's fastener industry made a production value of NTD130.9 billion and an export value of NTD121.8 billion, both of which in euro currency meet the definition of a hidden champion in terms of revenue. Furthermore, Taiwan has the most complete fastener supply chain in the world, which meets his first definition of hidden champions. A small island nation as it is, Taiwan has just gained a lot of media attention on the world stage in recent years due to international political and economic factors. This is the right time for Taiwan fastener industry to promote itself globally while setting out to be a hidden champion. This tactic must mobilize all stakeholders, including the government and associations, to build the Taiwan fastener supply chain into Taiwan Fastener Business Ecology. The existing fastener supply chain in Taiwan is a different concept from Business Ecology mentioned here. The former is a vertical industry chain, with its own fastener and related enterprises; the latter also includes a horizontal industry chain, with key external industry players that can bring transformational power to the fastener industry, including AI technology, energy-saving technology, smart solution providers, and other providers that you and I don’t know now, but they may have revolutionary technologies to help optimize fastener production lines. This is where fastener associations play the key role as a coordinator. Recently, Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute along with Taiwan Fastener Trading Association have been inviting experts to open courses to instruct fastener manufacturers on carbon reduction, an important step in establishing business ecology. We expect the associations to continue to play the role of a bridge to establish contacts from key external industries and introduce high-potential technologies from outside into the fastener industry, thereby accelerating process optimization. In addition, the Taiwanese government has provided subsidies to assist in the transformation, but these measures may not be fast enough. We need the associations and the government to communicate, and beyond the co-assisting Taiwanese fastener supply chain, they need to collaborate with the outside world on technology exchange and funding. The best long going tactic for Taiwan is deployment from the perspective of fastener business ecology. Lasty, I would like to share with you and conclude with a quote from William Liao, president of Fastener World Magazine.

The economy is in a temporary downtrend in recent years. We are very grateful to the government and fastener associations for their support and concern that have enabled us to express the industr y’ s dilemma to the government, but in the end, we have to count on ourselves to survive. I recall a few years ago when I went with a group to a golf course in a southern Japan countryside to play golf. The course used be surrounded by factories and had its heyday, but went down with Japan’ s 30-year stagnant economy. Now those factories have relocated overseas and the younger population have left their hometown. The golf course is left withering away. I found the youngest staff of the course in their fifties, and others in their eighties still in service. Now the golfers are mostly middle-aged or senior. The young and middle-aged people are mostly out of hometown working and only occasionally return from all over Japan or other countries to this course to play on holidays. That’ s why business is waning for this golf course. Plus, their equipment is a bit old. In all fairness, excluding the high-tech industry, Taiwan fastener industry can count as one of the world's top hidden champions, but with major technology parks completed and now in mass production in southern Taiwan, Taiwan fastener industry will be confronted with the issue of talents being drawn to hightech enterprises, let alone higher green power price and labor costs. Are Taiwan fastener owners truly ready for unmanned manufacturing and an aged population turning up in about 10 years? This’ ll be for them to answer and act on.

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Exhibition >> 2023 墨西哥瓜達拉哈拉建材五金展熱絡人龍拉動拉美市場龐大商機

High Visitor Traffic Foresees Huge Business Opportunities in Latin America

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

xpo Nacional Ferretera, the largest and professional hardware trade event in Latin America, returned September 7-9, 2023 at Expo Guadalajara. With 1,094 exhibitors and 50,000 square meters of exhibition space, the show not only attracted many local Mexican hardware manufacturers and suppliers, but also many companies from neighboring Latin American countries and even Asia to exhibit their latest innovative products and services. The annually held hardware show in Guadalajara is decisive for the development a nd consol id at ion of t he ha rdwa r e components, construction, electrical and industrial safety industries in Mexico and throughout the greater Central and South American region, and is an important venue for manufacturers, distributors and buyers to establish contact networks, develop partnerships with key industry players, learn about innovative products and receive the latest industry news. According to the organizer's post-show statistics, this year's event has once again set a new record in the number of visitors, with up to 60% of visitors being decision makers, 64% being potential buyers looking for new products, and 51% looking for new suppliers to work with. This year, Fastener World Inc. was also present at the exhibition and interacted with local buyers (e.g. hardware distributors, importers/exporters, building materials buyers, etc.) and presented them with latest suppliers directories, in order to build a bridge for cooperation and explore more business opportunities for those who were unable to attend the exhibition in Mexico. Fastener World's exhibitors said that there were many people on-site during the three-day event, which fully reflected how much importance the local industry attached to the show and the active industry enthusiasm. The wave of risk diversification under the era of great changes is embracing business opportunities in emerging markets such as Latin America. If you want to enter the booming hardware manufacturing supply chain in Mexico and keep pace with foreign investors to further develop the Latin American market, this show definitely is not to be missed. The organizer has also announced that the next show will be held again on September 5-7, 2024 at Expo Guadalajara.

064 惠達雜誌

Exhibition >> 2023 中國上海國際五金展鏈接中國 - 全球五金行業指標平台

The Leading Platform Connecting Chinese and Global Hardware Industries

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

hina International Hardware Show (CIHS), celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, was held again on September 19-21 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), which has been recognized as the largest hardware trade show in Asia. This year's show opened with eight exhibition halls (N1~N5 and W3~W5) and was divided into various thematic areas including International Hall, Domestic Tools Halls, Locks & Security Doors Products Hall, and Building Hardware & Fasteners Hall. The exhibition attracted many local Chinese and overseas enterprises to exhibit tools, locks, security products and accessories, processing and manufacturing equipment, building hardware, fasteners, DIY products, gardening and sanitary products, and other products and peripheral services. According to the organizer, the 3-day show gathered nearly 2,500 exhibitors and representatives from Germany, Taiwan, the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, Japan, S. Korea, Malaysia and other countries, with a total exhibition area of 120,000 sq. m. It provided an interactive platform for face-to-face communication with professional buyers and visitors, and opened up a two-way trade channel for Chinese hardware enterprises and the introduction of overseas brands. Fastener World's suppliers directories were not only popular to visiting buyers coming to ask for their free copies, but also highly recognized by those industry professionals visiting our stand. Some visitors commented that it was difficult to find suitable partners in a short period of time because of the large number of hardware-related industries in China, but through Fastener World's free magazines and the diversified online sourcing platform, they were able to find a lot of manufacturers with good quality, experience and good reputation very quickly. During the exhibition, the organizer also planned a "Global Hardware Channel and Distribution Development Forum," inviting industry experts to share their insights into current market trends and industrial developments, analyze the pain points of the hardware industry's traditional distribution channels and the possibility for further upgrading, and solve the problems of insufficient marketing power and high product homogeneity, etc. The welcome reception was also held and the first "CIHS Award" was also presented to many industry leaders, product innovation and quality excellence enterprises which were invited to receive the award on stage. The next show is scheduled for October 2024. Please always keep yourself updated on Fastener World website for the latest info about the next show.

066 惠達雜誌

Exhibition >> 2023 日本大阪工業展 AI 檢測、碳中和、精實生產管控成為話題

AI Inspection, Carbon Neutrality, and Lean Production Control Now the Talk of the Town

he show attracted 1,030 exhibitors during the three-day period from October 4 to 6, including 267 exhibitors of fasteners and hardware parts, nearly 200 exhibitors related to surface treatment and surface cleaning, about 100 exhibitors of i nsp e ct ion m a ch i nes, a nd nea rly 100 exhibitors of measuring machines, according to the data revealed by the organizer. The total number of visitors reached 33,000 people.

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In recent years, Japan has gained a lot of attention in the world's political and economic landscape. There is a well-known fastener trade dealer in Osaka in the making of an all-English purchase platform, aiming at the global market and vowing to send Japanese high-quality products and logistics services to all corners of the world. Fastener World is closely monitoring the situation in Japan and set up a booth at the show to distribute magazines and introduce global fastener companies to Japanese visitors. According to Fastener World staff onsite, there were about 70 Chinese exhibitors of screws and 30 Taiwanese fastener exhibitors in the show. Some of them solely target their overseas sales at the Japanese market and visited Japanese clients before the show. On another note, visitors to the Fastener World booth were mainly looking for suppliers of screws and motorcycle parts. There were up to six AI-related speeches in the conferences organized by the show, which mainly explored how to apply AI to the manufacturing industry. Another big topic was carbon neutrality, with one of the speech title "Explanation of the decarbonization management strategy— Key points of CO2 visualization and carbon footprint calculation of the entire supply chain in the manufacturing industry ". From here we see Japan’s high interest in carbon tax as the future trend. Representative of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan was also invited to give a presentation on the world-renowned Toyota Production System (TPS). These speeches offered a glimpse into the future of Japan's manufacturing industry.

068 惠達雜誌

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Exhibition >> 2023 台灣國際五金工具博覽會台灣手工具產業關注減碳轉型與智慧製造

Taiwan Hand Tool Industry Now Focuses on Carbon Reduction and Smart Manufacturing

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he show held from October 4 and closed on 6th gained support from more than 20 associations. Among them, the chairmen of Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute as well as Taiwan Fastener Trading Association were present in person, and posed for a group photo on the opening stage with the chairman of Taiwan Hand Tool Manufacturers' Association and representatives from the Presidential Office of Taiwan. The show area was expanded to 6,500 square meters, 40% more than the first edition. The number of exhibitors exceeded 300 and 30,000 visitors came to the show. Hundreds of world famous overseas buyers, including those from Stanley Black & Decker, KTC, KS Tools, Milwaukee, came to purchase. Fastener World’s staff onsite interviewed several other exhibitors from the fastener, hardware and hand tool industries. Most of them said that they saw a large inflow of people and were looking forward to the benefits of the show in terms of orders. With CBAM now on a trial run, this show’s seminars were largely focused on carbon reduction, with speech titles such as "Strategies for Navigating the Dual Transformation of Smart Manufacturing and Low-Carbon Sustainability in the Manufacturing I ndust r y", "Towa rds I ndust r y 4.0: Build t he Smart Factory of the Future" and "Navigating Global Carbon Management Trends and Strategic Responses". Although the European Union has not yet included hand tools in the scope of CBAM taxation, it is clear that the hand tool industry in Taiwan has begun to respond. In addition, a large number of speeches focused on cross-border logistics, showing that Taiwan hand tool industry has taken hit from the pandemic which is bygone and is now fully engaged in export sales.

070 惠達雜誌

Industry Focus >>

中東歐汽車產業概況與商機

I. Overview of the Automotive Industry’s Development in Major Central and E. European Countries Czech Rep.

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The automotive industry is one of the pillars of the Czech economy. More than 40 of the 100 most important automotive companies in the world have invested in the Czech Rep. and set up branches in the Czech Republic. Their design, innovation and technology development centers located in the Czech Rep. form a dense and complete automotive industry chain, making the Czech Rep. one of the countries with the highest degree of concentration in automotive manufacturing, design and research and development in the world, and ranked the 5th largest automotive manufacturing country in the EU in 2022. The Czech automotive industry has a history of 100+ years, and the Czech Rep. has embraced a dense and complete automotive industry chain with 3 passenger car manufacturers and nearly 400 automotive component manufacturers/suppliers, of which 55% are foreign-invested enterprises. The Czech Rep. has developed a number of advantages in the passenger car, commercial vehicle and component industries. In the automobile manufacturing and assembly sector, the Czech Rep. has three passenger car plants, including Skoda, Toyota-Citroën and Hyundai, of which Skoda is the top 100 Czech companies and the largest exporter in terms of trade turnover, and is also the 3rd largest R&D center of the VW Group worldwide; in the commercial vehicles sector, Karosa is the largest bus manufacturer in the Czech Rep. and the leading bus manufacturer in Europe, while Iveco Group is the second largest bus manufacturer in Europe and has the world’s largest bus manufacturing center in the Czech Rep. - the Iveco Czech plant. In terms of components, the Czech Rep. has been ranked as the world’s best place for investment in the automotive components industry by European investment monitor Ernst & Young for many consecutive years. Half of the world’s top 50 automotive component manufacturers have invested in the Czech Rep., including John Controls, Simens, Faurecia, and Visteon, and in terms of component services, the Czech International Automotive Parts and Accessories Exhibition is the only exhibition for utility vehicles in Central Europe

072 惠達雜誌

and enjoys a high reputation in Central and E. Europe. The Czech Passenger Car Show is the largest and most influential specialized truck show in Central and E. Europe, attracting a large number of European and global passenger car buyers and suppliers every year. In 2021, after a year of intermittent shutdowns due to the epidemic supply chain disruption, production in 2022 reached as high as 1.4 million vehicles, accounting for 85% of the total capacity. A large backlog of orders in 2021 drove the growth of production in 2022 and strongly suppressed demand also stimulated consumption. One of the three largest Czech automobile manufacturers, Toyota (TMMCZ established in 2002 hires 3,200 employees and produced 202,000 vehicles in 2022, accounting for about 17% of the total Czech production), ceased production in February 2023 due to the continued shortage of key components, leading to a waiting period of about 6-12 months for individual vehicle models. With the continuous shortage of supply in early 2023 and a large backlog of orders, the Czech automotive industry continues to recover, driving the economic rebound.

Industry Focus >> Poland Poland’s automotive industry has developed rapidly through large-scale attraction of foreign investment, privatization and comprehensive restructuring, and has become one of the major producers of automotive components in Europe and a major automotive industry country in E. Europe in a short period of time. In 2022, there were more than 1,500 manufacturers engaged in the production of automobiles and components in Poland, and major car manufacturers such as Fiat, VW, Toyota, Isuzu, GM, and Volvo all have invested and built their factories in the country. Poland has formed a lot of advantages in automobile and parts manufacturing. Almost 98% of Polish automobiles are exported and the largest market for Polish automobile export is Germany. Poland is also VW’s strategic base in E. Europe with the two most important engine factories of VW within Europe. Nearly 50% of VW’s European production is completed in Poland. In terms of components, Poland produces automotive components with high technical standards and a wide range of products, and is a world leader in the manufacture of tires, seats, automotive electronics, cables & braking systems, etc., which are widely used in the assembly of automotive brands such as M. Benz, Nissan, Opel, Porsche, VW, Fiat, Honda, and Citroën. Important global automotive component manufacturers such as TRW, Valeo, Delphi, Faurecia, etc. have also established their R&D centers in Poland.

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According to the report of The European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), which promotes the European clean transport movement, Poland has the best EV battery production capacity in Europe, with a capacity of 47GWh in 2022, significantly higher than that of Hungary (30GWh) and Germany (20GWh). Polish EV batteries have become an important export item for the country and Polish EV battery sales were the highest in Europe with a value of around €4 billion in 2022, twice as much as in 2019. Polish EV batteries have the highest value of production in the automotive industry.

074

According to the report by AutomotiveSuppliers.pl, the export value of Polish automotive industry fell by 5.6% (EUR 28.6 bn) in 2022, with automotive components still accounting for the largest share of exports (EUR 10.7 bn), exports of cars valued at EUR 4.9 bn, and exports of EV batteries climbing to the 3rd place (EUR 3.99 bn). As many automotive factories have announced to increase the production of EV, the production

惠達雜誌

value of the automotive industry in 2023 is expected to perform well. Poland will continue to attract foreign investors and consider their production plants the basis for further development of the Polish EV industry.

Slovakia The automotive industry is one of the pillars of Slovakian economy, accounting for 13% of its GDP, 35% of its exports, and 44% of its total industrial production value, which occupies a strategically important position in the economy. In 2022, Slovakia’s annual automotive production reached 981,000 vehicles, with an average of 180+ vehicles per 1,000 people. Slovakia’s automotive production is only second to those of the Czech Rep. and Poland among the new EU member states. In terms of vehicle manufacturing, Slovakia has the most advanced automobile assembly production lines in Europe, and major automobile manufacturers such as VW, Peugeot, Citroën and Kia have invested and built factories in Slovakia. With the investment in the production of automobiles by the UK’s Jaguar and Land Rover in the Sznitra region, the production capacity of Slovakian automobile industry will be further increased. The reason that Slovakia could occupy a solid presence in the European automotive industry is mainly due to its quality of passenger car assembly and the ability to produce highquality parts. Slovakia has 350+ parts suppliers, of which more than 240 are located in the western region. Slovakia is located in the middle of Europe, creating relatively lower transaction costs, so major Western European car makers have relocated their factories to Slovakia, thus gradually moving the European automotive manufacturing heartland from W. Europe to the Central & E. European region. In 2022, 100% of the vehicles assembled at VW’s Brastislava and Martin plants in Slovakia were exported to 180 countries, with China, the U.S., and Germany being the top 3 export destinations, accounting for 2/3 of its total production. The VW Bratislava plant in Slovakia has recently begun production of its first electric SUV (Porsche Cayenne), but market demand has been lower than planned due to low consumer willingness to purchase EV, a phenomenon that has also occurred in Germany. Customer orders for the German VW ID series of SUV are much below annual targets and all carmakers (not just VW) are experiencing a drop in orders. Slovakia is still optimistic about the market for the electric Porsche Cayenne, believing that luxury cars are still the company’s main source of profit, and echoing the company’s plans to convert the Audi Q7, Q8, and VW Touareg models of the same group into electric vehicles.

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Industry Focus >> Hungary The automobile industry is the main driving force of Hungary’s economic growth and more than 1/4 of the country’s total foreign investment in the manufacturing industry went to the automobile industry. Among Central and European countries, Hungary’s automobile industry has a relatively mature market with a complete system suppor ting the automobile industry chain. In 2022 there were 700+ automobile vehicles, parts and components and ancillary service providers in Hungary, of which 500 are automobile parts producers.

There were more than 470 automotive OEMs and components manufacturers in Romania in 2022, employing more than 206,000 people; the automotive industry in Romania has been on an uptrend in recent years, and the automotive industry was worth about US$26 billion in 2022, accounting for about 12.7% of its GDP, of which export of OEMs and components amounting to 41.3%, and Daewoo, the second largest OEM in Romania, with a market share of 19.2%. In 2022, the automotive industry was

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Hungary has an advantage in the field of passenger cars, assembly and manufacturing of components and exports a large number of them. In terms of vehicle manufacturing, 80% of its passenger cars assembled by Suzuki Hungary are exported to Italy, Germany, the UK, etc., and the medium/low-priced cars produced are mainly for the demand of the Central and E. European market, such as Slovenia; in terms of components, 15 out of the world’s top 20 parts manufacturers invested and set up factories for production and sales in Hungary, including Bosch, Takata, etc., and Hungary is a leader in the production of gasoline engines and is the 4th largest exporter of engines in Europe. Bosch has built the world’s largest production center for automotive electronic components in Hungary, and Audi Hungary is the largest exporter (about 90% for export) and the world’s 3rd largest supplier of 12-cylinder diesel engines (for Audi Q7). Automobile manufacturing is one of the representative industries of Hungary. As the pillar industry of Hungary, the annual growth rate of the automobile manufacturing industry in 2022 was 9.8%, contributing 29.3% of the output value of the Hungarian manufacturing industry, 91.1% of the output value of the automobile industry was from export, accounting for 1/5 of Hungary’s total export value. The biggest market for the export of Hungarian automobiles and spare parts is the EU, half of which is sold to Germany, mainly supplying Audi, M. Benz assembly support. Foreign investment also plays a pivotal role in Hungary’s automotive industry, with most passenger car and engine manufacturers being foreign-invested, while local manufacturers are mainly engaged in the production of commercial vehicles and automotive components. In 2022, Hungary had more than 740 automobile and component manufacturers and thousands of indirect service providers, forming an automobile industry chain.

Romania Romanian automobiles occupy a higher position in the European market. In terms of vehicle manufacturing, foreign companies have a higher market share, mainly Renault and Daewoo, of which Renault is the largest automobile OEM in Romania, with a market share of 41.3% in 2022, and Daewoo is the second largest OEM in Romania, with a market share of 19.2%. The automotive industry has become the driving force of Romania’s economic development, which, together with the IT industry and the retail industry, are called the three major engines of the Romanian economy.

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worth 26 billion USD, accounting for 12.7% of the country’s GDP, of which exports of automobile manufacturing and components reached US$18.4 billion, around 20.2% of the country’s total export. Romania’s main industry is the automotive industry. Due to the presence of automotive companies such as Dacia (a Romanian brand, part of the Renault-Nissan Group), Ford, and Continental,

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Industry Focus >> Romania ranks 10th in the EU in terms of automotive and automotive parts manufacturing, with an annual production of about 500,000 passenger cars in 2022 and an export value of about US$13.2 billion. The country has more than 600 upstream and downstream manufacturers in the supply chain, producing related components such as tires, wires, conductors, transmissions, electronic components, lights and batteries, etc. The EU countries are its main export destinations.

The Romanian automotive parts industry is divided into 3 segments: mechanical and electronic parts, after-sales parts, and consumables & accessories. In the electric and hybrid market, the Ministry of the Environment doubled the budget of its Rabla Plus program for 2021, with a total value of 82 million euros to subsidize Romanian nationals’ purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles. According to the program, 10,000 euros subsidy will be provided for each purchase of a purely electric vehicle, making Romania the country offering the highest subsidy among EU member states. According to EURACTIV media report in March 2023, thanks to Romania’s EV incentive policy, 8.6% of new vehicles purchased by the Romanian public in January-February 2023 were electric vehicles. The Romanian Ministry of the Environment has announced a subsidy program with a total budget of 1.5 billion euros since March 2023 to encourage more people to purchase EV. The Romanian automotive components industry is mainly driven by the investment of Western European car manufacturers, with manufacturing plants all over Romania, including Continental AG (tire manufacturing, located in the west of Romania), Michelin (tire factory in Zalau and Floresti), Pirelli (tire factory in Slatina), Star Transmission (transmission factory in Cugir), etc.

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Slovenia T h e a u t o m o t i v e i n d u s t r y i s o n e o f S l o v e n i a’s manufacturing strengths, with 180 manufacturers engaged in the industry in 2022. The main automotive parts and components include seats, interior trim, chassis, brakes, engi nes, elect ron ic/elect r ica l components, steer i ng systems, power train components, spot welding equipment, transmission components, etc. Slovenian automotive products are mainly exported (about 90%) and the main export destinations for vehicle assembly include Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Hungary and Southeast Europe, while the main export destinations for automotive parts and components include Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the UK, the U.S. and Spain. In terms of components, Hella Saturnus, Revoz, Adria Mobil, and Cimos have become component suppliers to leading automakers such as BMW, Audi, Ford, and Toyota. In terms of vehicle manufacturing, Revoz is the only vehicle manufacturer in Slovenia, mainly producing Twingo2 and Clio2 small passenger cars.

Serbia

According to Focus2move, the sales volume of vehicles in Romania in Q1 2023 increased by 27.6% to 41,000 vehicles compared to the same period of the previous year, and the top 5 brands were Dacia, Renault, Hyundai, Skoda and Toyota, showing that the automotive market has been gradually recovering in the post-pandemic era.

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The automobile industry is an important part of the Serbian economy, and the main vehicle manufacturers include Fiat (Serbia), Red Flag Special Purpose Vehicle Company, Red Flag Truck Company, FAP, Neobus, Ikarbus, etc. Among them, the Fiat Group of Italy, through its investment and holding in the Red Flag Automobile Plant of Gulagoevac, has built a center of the automobile industry mainly focusing on the manufacturing of complete vehicles and spare parts processing in the Southeast Europe region.

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Industry Focus >> II. Business Opportunities and Issues Business Opportunities 1. Government Support for the Automobile Industry “Automotive” is a dominant industry in Central and E. European countries, some of which have announced a series of policies to encourage foreign investment in the automotive industry, such as the subsidy of at least 10 million euros for new plants meeting certain conditions a nd one-stop ser vices of Hu nga r ia n Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (HITPA). The Slovenian government, in cooperation with the Export Development Bank (SID) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), provides loans for long-term development projects in the automotive industry, with special subsidies for CO2 emission reduction and energy-saving technologies.

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2. Strong Automobile Demand in Central and E. European Countries Government and market orientation offer opportunities and development for the components industry in Central and E. European countries. For example, the governments of Czech Rep., Poland, Serbia and other countries support the development of cross-border cooperation in automobile manufacturing and joint development of new energy vehicles and components to promote the development of new energy vehicles in the local market. In terms of market, the Central and E. European countries, such as Hungary, the Czech Rep., Poland, Romania and other countries, show very low car ownership, showing a great market potential. In addition, the domestic supply of spare parts in some countries (such as Hungary) still cannot meet the needs of day-to-day automobile assembly, so they still need to rely on a large number of imports. 3. Great Investment Opportunities in the Automotive Markets of Central and E. European Countries Compared with the advanced EU countries, Central and E. European countries (such as Poland) are not very strict on the management of the automotive components market and the technical certification and regulatory review is more relaxed, so the cost of entering the market is generally lower. In addition, as consumers in the Central and E. European countries care mostly about: (1) stable quality and good maintenance services (2) prices cheaper than other local brands, Taiwan’s export-oriented automotive components manufacturers with advantages may benefit from potential business opportunities.

080 惠達雜誌 Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by James Hsiao

4. Opportunities for the EV Components Industry Compared with the high EV ownership in advanced countries in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, the EV market and charging infrastructure in Central and E. Europe are still in the nascent stage. Taiwanese EV component manufacturers have already entered the supply chain of the world’s major EV industry and have practical experience and competitive advantages, which will make Central and E. Europe a potential market for them to lay out their business in the future.

Issues 1. Inconsistent Market Standards The inconsistency of standards in the automotive markets of Central and E. European countries has resulted in entry barriers for manufacturers. For example, for commercial vehicles and separately sold automotive parts, Central and E. European countries implement different national standards, and the corresponding inspection certificates are only valid in their own countries, which have not realized mutual recognized certification internationally or among the EU member states. 2. Asymmetric Information on Cooperation Due to the lack of authoritative and reliable channels to obtain information, manufacturers do not have an in-depth understanding of the automotive industry in Central and E. European countries in terms of market conditions, investment environment, technical standards, industrial advantages and relevant laws and regulations, etc., and market development is mostly confined to irregular exhibitions, making it difficult to form a long-term and stable market. 3. Inadequate Market Mechanism The overall trade criteria of Central and E. European countries is not as mature as those of other advanced European countries, the U.S. and Japan, resulting in relatively complicated administrative approval procedures, lower government efficiency, and frequently changing tariff rates, etc. In addition, there are also problems such as unsound credit system, imperfect inspection mechanism, incomplete Customs declaration procedures, and non-transparent Customs rules, adding the uncertainty to Taiwanese manufacturers’ deployment. 4. Fierce Market Competition To observe the current automobile and components industry market of the Central and E. European countries, the market share is basically taken by W. European developed countries, Japan and S. Korea, forming a perfect automobile and components industry chain. Taiwanese manufacturers facing such a closed industrial feature must compete with the quality of Europe, the U.S., Japan on the one hand, and create their own market differentiation on the other hand, in order to gain more market share.

Industry Focus >>

Fastening Tools Development in Latin America Market 拉丁美洲市場緊固工具發展現況剖析 Introduction Latin America, with its vast land, rich natural resources, geographical advantage of proximity to the U.S., and a close connection to the U.S. economy, has sufficient consumption power and market potential. Coupled with the successful promotion of economic integration in the region over the years, as well as a number of tariff alliances and large-scale FTAs that are taking shape, the business opportunities for investment and trade should not be underestimated. The annual bilateral trade between Taiwan and Latin America has amounted to USD15 billion. In addition, many Latin American countries have signed a number of trade agreements with Taiwan, and therefore Latin America is indeed one of the important economic and trade regions for Taiwan. However, in recent years, Mexico and Brazil have become the focal points for shifting China’s economic clout due to supply chain changes caused by the U.S.-China trade conflict and the trend of regional integration. The global economy has started to slowly recover since 2021, and the Latin American market benefits from the surge of raw material price in North America. There is growing demand from China, the U.S., and the European Union. The import and export of various industries in Latin America has grown significantly by about 25~35%. This article defines Latin American countries as the 13 major economic and trade countries of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama, etc. Brazil and Mexico, two of the major export destinations for Taiwan in Latin America, are singled out for individual analysis. This article looks at three aspects— global trade, Taiwan trade with LAIA, related emerging industries— and explores the current development of Latin America to put forward relevant suggestions and strategies.

Latin America’s Import and Export of Fastening Tools

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◢ Import Analysis Table 1 shows the impor t of fastening tools by Latin America in 2018 to 2022. In 2022, the top three Latin American countries importing fastening tools were Mexico (US$250 million), Brazil (US$83 million), and Chile (US$47 million). Although import does not equal to demand and each country’s o u t p u t c a p a c it y mu s t s t i l l b e considered, import does reflect the mainstream demand for fastening tools in Latin America. The main 13 Latin American countries made an average compound growth rate of 3.7% in import in the past five years, among which the top three importers ranged between 3~5% compound growth rate. Free from the COVID impact, this is a market with stable demand.

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Table 1. Import of Fastening Tools by Latin America in 2018 to 2022 ( Unit: USD 100 million; % ) Country

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2022 Share

CAGR

Mexico Brazil Chile Argentina Peru Colombia Ecuador Panama Bolivia Paraguay Venezuela Uruguay Cuba LAIA

2.22 0.70 0.39 0.36 0.24 0.19 0.14 0.09 0.06 0.06 0.02 0.03 0.06 4.56

2.18 0.60 0.35 0.28 0.24 0.19 0.12 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.01 0.03 0.04 4.26

1.72 0.60 0.30 0.18 0.21 0.15 0.09 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.01 0.03 0.04 3.47

2.26 0.86 0.53 0.26 0.32 0.21 0.19 0.10 0.07 0.06 0.02 0.04 0.02 4.94

2.50 0.83 0.47 0.37 0.32 0.30 0.15 0.10 0.07 0.06 0.04 0.04 0.02 5.27

2.9% 1.0% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 6.2%

3.0% 4.4% 4.8% 0.5% 6.8% 12.5% 2.5% 3.6% 1.2% -1.3% 23.8% 7.1% -21.2% 3.7%

Total Import from the World

76.23

73.72

66.86

84.58

85.53

100.0%

2.9%

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Industry Focus >> Table 2. Export of Fastening Tools from Latin America in 2018 to 2022 ( Unit: USD 100 million; % )

◢ Export Analysis Table 2 shows the export of fastening tools by Latin America in 2018 to 2022. In 2022, the top three Latin American countries exporting fastening tools were Mexico (US$55 million), Brazil (US$16 million), and Panama (US$7 million). The main 13 Latin American countries made an average compound growth rate of 4.1% in export in the past five years. Among them, Panama and Mexico made it over 10%. However, be cause t he overa ll expor t va lue is not high, the competitiveness of local fastener manufacturers in Latin America i s n o t e n o u g h t o a f fe c t Ta iwa n e s e manufacturers.

Country

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2022 Share

CAGR

Mexico

0.40

0.33

0.35

0.45

0.55

0.69%

8.2%

Brazil

0.14

0.15

0.11

0.14

0.16

0.20%

3.6%

Panama

0.05

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.09%

11.8%

Chile

0.04

0.03

0.01

0.02

0.02%

-19.1%

Colombia

0.01

0.00

0.01

0.01%

12.3%

Peru

0.00

0.01

0.01%

5.8%

Argentina

0.06

0.05

0.03

0.04

0.00

0.01% -46.4%

LAIA Export

0.70

0.62

0.57

0.77

0.82

1.03%

4.1%

Total Export to the World

70.02

68.14

63.87

80.03

79.56

100.00%

3.2%

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Taiwanese Fastening Tool Export to Latin America Table 3 shows Taiwanese fastening tool export to Latin America from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, Taiwan’s export value of fastening tools to the Latin American market amounted to US$25.38 million (about NT$756 million), and the compound growth rate of export in the past five years was about 3.5%. The values and compound growth rates of Taiwan’s fastening tool export to the top three Latin American countries in the past five years were as follows: Brazil (US$8.935 million, 1.8%), Mexico (US$5.336 million, 2.3%), and Chile (US$4.666 million, 3.0%). The top three destinations have steady growing demand for Taiwanese fastening tools; the top three destinations with higher compound growth rates were Colombia (25.3%), Peru (16.0%), and Argentina (13.3%) and they are still worthy targets for Taiwan’s market expansion.

Table 3. Taiwanese Fastening Tool Export to Latin America from 2018 to 2022 ( Unit: USD 100 million; % ) Country

2018

2019

2020

Brazil Mexico Chile Argentina Colombia Peru Uruguay Panama Ecuador Paraguay Bolivia Cuba Venezuela

832.7 487.5 415 141.4 40.4 49.7 58.3 90.9 61.7 26.6 1.5 0 5.1

766 419.5 368.9 76.9 69.6 55.6 23.2 61.5 48.4 28.8 3 0 0.2

709 376 286.5 70.7 59.2 57.4 16.6 40.1 22.1 13.3 0.3 0 0

685.3 561.6 514 116.6 100.6 112.6 12.7 63.5 58.1 15 1.3 0 0

893.5 533.6 466.6 232.7 99.7 90.1 76.2 59.5 47.8 37.5 0.7 0.1 0.1

2022 2022 LAIA Global CAGR Share Share 35.2% 0.8% 1.8% 21.0% 0.5% 2.3% 18.4% 0.4% 3.0% 9.2% 0.2% 13.3% 3.9% 0.1% 25.3% 3.5% 0.1% 16.0% 3.0% 0.1% 6.9% 2.3% 0.1% -10.1% 1.9% 0.0% -6.2% 1.5% 0.0% 9.0% 0.0% 0.0% -17.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% -62.6%

Export to LAIA

2,210.8

1,921.6

1,651.2

2,241.3

2,538.1

2.4%

3.5%

100.0%

7.8%

2021

2022

Total Export 79,574.4 83,075.2 80,393.2 103,296.7 107,362.6 to the world

Analysis of Taiwanese Fastening Tool Demand in Top Two Latin American Destinations ◢ Mexico Table 4 shows Mexico’s top import sources and import values for fastening tools from 2018 to 2022; Mexico’s global import of fastening tools in 2022 amounted to US$250 million, with a compound growth rate (CAGR) of 3.0% over the past five years. The import amounts, market shares, and 5-year CAGRs of the top three import sources were the U.S. (US$77.6 million, accounting for 31.1%, CAGR 1.0%), China (US$76.087 million, 30.5%, CAGR 9.2%), Germany (US$15.353 million, 6.1%, CAGR -9.5%). The top 10 import sources for Mexico accounted for 82.4% of the market share, indicating a concentrated market structure. Although the U.S. and China each accounted for nearly 30%, the U.S compound growth rate of import at 1.0% was much lower than China’s (9.2%).

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It is estimated that China could become the primary import source of fastening tools for Mexico in the future. Table 5 shows the categories and values of fastening tools imported by Mexico from 2018 to 2022. The import value and 5-year CAGR of fastening tools imported by Mexico from the world in 2022 were: other interchangeable tools (US$ 112 million, -1.5%), non-adjustable hand-operated wrenches and spanners (US$58.726 Million, 7.1%), which altogether accounted for nearly 70% of the import. These two products accounted for nearly 70% of the total; interchangeable wrench sockets (12.9%) and non-adjustable hand-operated wrenches and spanners (7.1%) had the highest composite growth rate. The overall Mexican market demand for fastening tools is quite stable.

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Industry Focus >> Mexico is the largest importer Table 4. Mexico’s Top Import Sources and Import Values for Fastening Tools from 2018 to 2022 of fa st en i ng to ols i n L ati n ( Unit: USD 100 million; % ) A m e r ic a a n d a m e mb e r of 2022 CAGR Country 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 USMCA (North American Free Share Trade Agreement), but is only U.S. 7,465.3 7,503.7 5,305.9 7,180.9 7,760 31.1% 1.0% the second largest destination China 5,357.5 5,291.5 4,814.8 6,123.9 7,608.7 30.5% 9.2% for Taiwanese fastening tools. It Germany 2,289.3 2,134.2 1,346.1 1,772.4 1,535.3 6.1% -9.5% shows that even in Latin America, South Korea 653.8 525.2 432.6 686.6 918.1 3.7% 8.9% there is still room for Taiwan Japan 1,601.4 1,304.4 962.9 882.7 790.2 3.2% -16.2% to work on in the face of fierce India 383.1 397.9 413.8 650.3 608.5 2.4% 12.3% market competition. Mexico’s Taiwan 487.5 419.5 376 561.6 533.6 2.1% 2.3% potential industries related to fastening tools are industrial Italy 361.3 301.5 330 327.6 357.1 1.4% -0.3% m a c h i n e r y, a u t o m o b i l e s Spain 300.1 316 199.1 221.5 233.9 0.9% -6.0% (including EVs), green energy Brazil 106.6 85.4 98.9 260.5 226 0.9% 20.7% industries, etc. In the industrial Top 10 Import 19,005.9 18,279.3 14,280.1 18,668 20,571.4 82.4% 2.0% machinery industry, Mexico’s end Sources products such as heavy machine Other Import 3,204.1 3,529.6 2,937.6 3,905.1 4,393.8 17.6% 8.2% parts and hand tool sets grew Sources significantly in 2022, showing Mexico’s 22,210 21,808.9 17,217.7 22,573.1 24,965.2 100.0% 3.0% that there is still room for growth Global Import in Mexico’s demand for hand tools and machines. In terms of the automobile industry, Mexico’s automobiles are an important foreign exchange-earning industry, accounting for more than 30% of total exports. The total export value of automobiles and spare parts in 2022 were approximately US$101 billion. Almost all major car manufacturers in the world have investment deployed in Mexico. In terms of the green energy industry, Oaxaca in southern Mexico and California in the northwest are both rich in wind resources, which are potential markets that can be focused and worked on. Table 5. The Categories and Values of Fastening Tools Imported by Mexico from 2018 to 2022 ( Unit: USD 100 million; % ) 2022 Share

CAGR

8717.7 11,123.2

11,209.1

44.9%

-1.5%

4,526.7

3,681.8

4,938.8

5,872.6

23.5%

7.1%

2,519.2 2,000.3

2,693.6 1,900.8

2,154.8 1,573.8

3,095.8 2,044.5

4,088.8 2,084.6

16.4% 8.4%

12.9% 1.0%

1,312.0

1,250.3

1,089.6

1,370.8

1,710.1

6.8%

22,210.0

21,808.9

17,217.7 22,573.1 24,965.2 100.0%

3.0%

HS Codes

2018

2019

2020

Other Interchangeable Tools Non-adjustable Hand-operated Wrenches & Spanners Interchangeable Wrench Sockets Screwdrivers Adjustable Hand-operated Wrenches & Spanners Mexico’s Global Import Value

820,790

11,922.4

11,437.5

820,411

4,456.1

820,420 820,540 820,412

◢ Brazil Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

2022

Product Type

Table 6 shows Brazil’s top import sources and import values for fastening tools from 2018 to 2022. Brazil’s global import of fastening tools in 2022 was US$83.411 million, with a compound growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% over the past five years. The import amounts, market shares, and 5-year CAGRs of the top three import sources were China (US$42.913 million, accounting for 51.4%, CAGR 8.4%), India (US$9.709 million, 11.6%, CAGR 2.6%), Taiwan (US$8.935 million, 10.7%, CAGR 1.8%). The top 10 import sources for Brazil accounted for 92.2% of the market share, indicating a concentrated market structure like Mexico’s.

086 惠達雜誌

2021

Table 6. Brazil’s Top Import Sources and Import Values for Fastening Tools from 2018 to 2022 ( Unit: USD 100 million; % ) Country / Region China India Taiwan USA Germany Italy Japan France Hong Kong U.K. Top 10 Import Sources Other Import Sources Brazil’s Global Import Value

4,291.3 970.9 893.5 495.2 482.6 190.7 148.3 80 79.1 61.3

2022 Share 51.4% 11.6% 10.7% 5.9% 5.8% 2.3% 1.8% 1.0% 0.9% 0.7%

8.4% 2.6% 1.8% 2.8% -6.8% 3.2% 9.0% 21.0% 29.0% -8.2%

7895.4

7,692.9

92.2%

5.0%

191.4

753.5

648.2

7.8%

-1.2%

5,983.4

8,648.9

8,341.1

100.0%

4.4%

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

3,109.5 877.6 832.7 444 639.3 168.3 105.2 37.3 28.6 86.2

2812 776.6 766 435.5 397.3 152.8 179.9 64.6 29.9 96.3

3207 735.8 709 332.5 334.9 168.9 100.6 105.3 19.5 78.5

4,323.5 1,173.8 685.3 359.3 498.3 436 159.4 139.1 53.2 67.5

6,328.7

5,710.9

5792

681.6

312.5

7,010.3

6,023.4

CAGR

Hardware & Fastener Components no.60/2023 087

Industry Focus >> Table 7 shows the categories and values of fastening tools imported by Brazil from 2018 to 2022. The import value and 5-year CAGR of fastening tools imported by Brazil from the world in 2022 were: non-adjustable hand-operated wrenches & spanners (US$23.60 million, 5.6%), other interchangeable tools (US$23.52 million, 2.3%), interchangeable wrench sockets (US$18.752 million, 5.1%). These three products accounted for nearly 80% of the total. Adjustable hand-operated wrenches & spanners (12.4%) and non-adjustable hand-operated wrenches & spanners (5.6%) had the highest composite growth rate. The overall Brazilian market demand for fastening tools is quite stable.

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

Table 7. The Categories and Values of Fastening Tools Imported by Brazil from 2018 to 2022 ( Unit: USD 100 million; % ) Product Type

HS Codes

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2022 Share

CAGR

Non-adjustable Hand-operated Wrenches & Spanners

820,411

1,896.0

1,785.8

1,682.0

2,553.8

2,360.0

28.3%

5.6%

Other Interchangeable Tools

820,790

2,147.9

1,928.1

1,840.9

2,547.0

2,352.0

28.2%

2.3%

Interchangeable Wrench Sockets

820,420

1,539.4

1,149.9

1,169.6

1,910.5

1,875.2

22.5%

5.1%

Adjustable Hand-operated Wrenches & Spanners

820,412

575.2

518.1

557.7

764.8

917.2

11.0%

12.4%

Screwdrivers

820,540

851.8

641.5

733.2

872.8

836.7

10.0%

-0.4%

Brazil is the second largest export destination for Taiwanese fastening tools. According to Brazil’s industrial development policy, Brazil’s mid to long term key development industries and potential areas related to fastening tools include: automotive industry, aerospace industry, construction industry, etc. In the automotive industry, the export value of the auto parts industry reached US$6.5 billion in 2022; in the aerospace industry, Brazil’s aerospace company Embraer ordered approximately 180 administrative and commercial aircraft in 2022. In the construction industry, Brazil’s domestic construction industry scale has reached US$75-80 billion. Market data shows that Brazil’s fasteners and fastening tools still have great potential for development. In addition, the Brazilian government provides services to promote domestic industrial development and introduce foreign component industries. With relevant tax investment incentives, Taiwanese businesses can evaluate and invest in related manufacturing industries in Brazil.

Conclusion In recent years, China’s economic clout in Latin America has continued to expand. In order to curb the speed of China’s expansion into Latin America, the U.S. has strengthened economic collaboration with Latin America because the U.S. is the largest export destination for Taiwan’s fasteners and fastening tools, and the economic and trade relations between Latin America and the U.S. are very close, so Latin America is a potential area for Taiwan to continue to exert strength. The following are suggestions and a strategy for Taiwan’s fastening tool companies to expand into the Latin America. (1) Taiwanese business owners can tailor-make fastening tools that match the types of fasteners required by the automotive, green energy, and aerospace industries in Latin American countries.

088 惠達雜誌

(2) Enter the Latin American market through bilateral trade agreements signed between Taiwan and Latin American countries or by taking advantage of tax reciprocity treaties. (3) Establish a sales office and collaborate with local importers to build brands and secure orders. Taiwanese companies with business offices generally have shipping warehouses in the U.S., so they can work with importers and distributors nearby to embark on sales expansion strategies, quickly supply the North American market and enter the North American supply chain to satisfy the needs of customers in the Americas. (4) Based on actual needs, evaluate the effectiveness of setting up a shipping warehouse, act as an importer, select buyers nearby and set up a shipping warehouse for import. (5) Extensive retail channels and flexible marketing: Taiwanese businessmen in Latin America can learn about local market changes nearby, keep in touch with Taiwanese industry players as a basis for product improvement and sales strategy adjustments, enter the local retail market in a timely manner, and actively develop local businesses. They can import, distribute products and even set up stores to operate directly or in high-end shopping malls in Latin America for full-range deployment. (6) Utilize exhibitions, matchmaking events and government-led marketing activities to maximize the synergies of integrated sales, create a better image for Taiwanese products, and expand market shares in Latin America.

Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Dr. Arthur Hsu Data source: compiled by ITC/MIRDC Monetary conversion rate (average in 2022): USD: NTD=1: 29.78

Industry Focus >>

Fastening Hand Tool Trade Statistics of USA, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil in Jan-Jul 2023 2023年前七個月美加日台巴緊固工具進出口統計 Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Gang Hao Chang

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

According to the latest global hand tools market analysis report published by Technavio, the global hand tools market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.36% from 2022 to 2027, and the market size is expected to increase by approximately US$2,362 million, mainly benefiting from the huge demand for related hand tools in emerging countries, the increasing popularity of DIY activities, and the growing construction market. Products are increasingly being designed to be more user-friendly, but power tools with better technology and performance continue to pose many challenges to the market for hand tool applications. In the midst of this market development, several world’s largest importers and exporters of hand tools continue to play an influential role in the global marketplace by producing and selling hand tools. This article analyzes the supply and demand performance of the global hand tool market by comparing the latest hand tool import and export data for the first 7 months of 2023 from major hand tool importing and exporting countries such as the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, and Japan with the performance for the same period of the previous year.

USA The U.S. imported about US$1.727 billion of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), US$786 million of hand tools (product code 8205) and US$441 million of hand-operated wrenches (product code 8204) in the first 7 months of 2023, a decrease of 10%, 16.41% and 13.21%, respectively, from the same period in 2022. USA exported approximately US$1,208 million of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), US$356 million of hand tools (product code 8205), and US$188 million of hand-operated wrenches (product code 8204), representing decreases of 4.59%, 2.09%, and increase of 16.30%, respectively, from the same period in 2022. Of the “8204” category, the top 3 import sources were Taiwan, China and Vietnam. Among the top 10 import sources, the largest decline from the previous period was Mexico (-25.69%) and the largest increase was Czech Republic (44.59%). The top 3 export destinations were Canada, Mexico and Japan. Among the top 10 export destinations, Japan recorded the largest decrease (-11.6%) and Saudi Arabia the largest increase (130.65%) in the previous period. Of the “8205” category, the top 3 import sources were China, Taiwan and Mexico. Among the top 10 import sources, Japan registered the largest decline (-28.76%) and France registered the largest increase (6.63%) over the previous period. The top 3 export destinations were Canada, Mexico and Germany. Among the top 10 export destinations, China recorded the largest decrease (-29.48%) and the Netherlands recorded the largest increase (47.96%). Of the “8207” caegory, the top 3 sources of imports were China, Germany and Japan. Among the top 10 sources of imports, the largest decline from the previous period was Canada (-28%) and the largest increase was South Korea (26%). The top 3 export destinations were Canada, Mexico and Germany. Among the top 10 export destinations, the country with the largest decrease from the previous period was the Netherlands (-84.72%), and the country with the largest increase was Mexico (32.01%).

090 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components no.60/2023 091

Industry Focus >> (in Million USD ), in descending order according to values of 2023

◣ Import Rank

◣ Export

HS 8204 Hand-Operated Spanners & Wrenches

Partner World

Jan-Jul Jan-Jul Same Period 2022 2023 Change

Rank

Partner

Jan-Jul Jan-Jul Same Period 2022 2023 Change

$508

$441

-13.21%

$162

$188

16.30%

Taiwan

$239

$216

-9.29%

Canada

$48

$59

21.33%

China

$151

$117

-22.07%

Mexico

$14

$23

60.68%

Vietnam

$26

-2.24%

Japan

$12

$10

-11.60%

India

$33

$26

-22.20%

U.K.

$10

23.86%

Germany

$21

$17

-19.77%

Australia

$10

-6.93%

-6.43%

World

Spain

1.89%

Germany

Mexico

-25.69%

Singapore

3.40%

Czech

44.59%

Belgium

41.26%

Japan

-2.48%

Saudi Arabia

130.65%

Sweden

-5.72%

Netherlands

24.38%

HS 8205 Hand Tools, Blow Torches, Anvils Rank

Partner

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

World

Jan-Jul Jan-Jul Same Period 2022 2023 Change $941

$786

-16.41%

Rank

Partner World

Jan-Jul Jan-Jul Same Period 2022 2023 Change $364

$356

-2.09%

Canada

$119

$122

2.90%

China

$412

$326

-20.98%

Taiwan

$248

$190

-23.52%

Mexico

$37

$36

-4.21%

Mexico

$42

$44

5.58%

Germany

$16

$19

20.26%

India

$44

$38

-13.74%

U.K.

$23

$19

-19.08%

Germany

$28

$30

3.78%

Australia

$16

$15

-7.46%

Vietnam

$28

3.39%

Japan

$10

4.07%

Canada

$23

$24

3.00%

Netherlands

47.96%

Japan

$18

$13

-28.76%

France

4.33%

France

$10

6.63%

China

$10

-29.48%

Austria

$11

$10

-11.19%

Belgium

-19.89%

HS 8207 Interchangeable Tools for Hand Tools or Machine Tools Rank

Partner World

Jan-Jul Jan-Jul Same Period 2022 2023 Change $1,919

$1,727

-10%

Rank

Partner World

Jan-Jul Jan-Jul Same Period 2022 2023 Change $1,266

$1,208

-4.59%

China

$408

$304

-25%

Canada

$333

$337

1.23%

Germany

$282

$250

-11%

Mexico

$248

$328

32.01%

Japan

$299

$233

-22%

Germany

$41

$37

-9.61%

South Korea

$143

$181

26%

Saudi Arabia

$30

$36

20.97%

Canada

$183

$132

-28%

U.K.

$33

$36

8.55%

Taiwan

$96

$80

-17%

China

$36

$33

-8.81%

Italy

$73

$65

-11%

Australia

$26

$25

-3.11%

Mexico

$59

$64

Brazil

$22

$23

4.51%

India

$38

$46

21%

Netherlands

$141

$22

-84.72%

Brazil

$33

$41

24%

U.A.E.

$16

$17

7.09%

092 惠達雜誌

Source: U.S. ITA of Department of Commerce

Industry Focus >>

Canada In the first 7 months of 2023, Canada imported about US$500 million of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), US$171 million of hand tools (product code 8205) and US$0.84 billion of hand-operated wrenches (product code 8204), representing a decrease of 15.65%, a decrease of 12.23%, and an increase of 10.96% over the same period of 2022, respectively. Canada exported approximately US$225 million of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), US$44 million of hand tools (product code 8205), and US$106 million of hand-operated wrenches (product code 8204), representing a decrease of 21.73%, and increases of 11.34% and 15.29%, respectively, from the same period of 2022. Of the “8204” category, the top 3 import sources were USA, Taiwan and China. Among the top 10 import sources, the largest decline from the previous period was India (-34.08%) and the largest increase was Czech Republic (78.46%). The top 3 export destinations were USA, Germany and Mexico. Among the top 10 export destinations, Australia registered the largest decrease (-44.29%) and India registered the largest increase (3,786.27%) in the previous period. Of the “8205” category, the top 3 import sources were USA, China and Taiwan. Among the top 10 import sources, the largest decline from the previous period was China (-31.83%) and the largest increase was Mexico (9.39%). The top 3 export destinations were USA, Australia and Turkey. Among the top 10 export destinations, the country with the largest decrease from the same previous period was the UK (-22.95%) and the country with the largest increase was Turkey (8,991.98%). Of the “8207” category, the top 3 import sources were USA, China and Germany. Among the top 10 import sources, Japan recorded the largest decline (-70.16%) over the previous period, while Germany recorded the largest increase (15.79%). The top 3 export destinations were USA, Mexico and Australia. Among the top 10 export destinations, Brazil recorded the largest decrease (-37.55%) and Germany recorded the largest increase (656.11%) in the previous period.

◣ Export

◣ Import HS 8204 Hand-Operated Spanners & Wrenches Rank

Partner

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

World

Jan-Jul 2022

Jan-Jul 2023

Same Period Change

75,922,920

84,241,447

10.96

Rank

Partner World

Jan-Jul 2022

Jan-Jul 2023

Same Period Change

5,245,408

6,047,405

15.29

USA

24,592,894

31,041,705

26.22

USA

3,012,603

3,756,044

24.68

Taiwan

19,435,906

22,316,156

14.82

Germany

131,724

245,718

86.54

China

23,639,615

20,930,561

-11.46

163,113

19.09

Germany

2,134,000

3,007,828

40.95

Mexico Saudi Arabia

136,969

40,874

131,211

221.01

Japan

830,409

1,469,035

76.9

Kazakhstan

23,794

126,964

433.6

Spain

760,920

831,395

9.26

Japan

14,758

113,734

670.66

Czech

422,320

753,677

78.46

U.K.

101,878

101,681

-0.19

India

1,141,436

752,432

-34.08

Vietnam

463,626

721,260

55.57

8 9

Australia India

163,306 2,244

90,971 87,208

-44.29 3,786.27

U.K.

372,564

652,918

75.25

Chile

108,280

82,875

-23.46

HS 8205 Hand Tools, Blow Torches, Anvils Rank

Partner World

USA

Jan-Jul 2022

Jan-Jul 2023

195,075,063 171,224,972

Same Period Change

Rank

Partner World

-12.23

63,084,364

66,223,721

4.98

Jan-Jul 2022

Jan-Jul 2023

Same Period Change

39,779,117

44,290,077

11.34

USA

27,406,747

27,911,207

1.84

China

80,280,177

54,728,188

-31.83

Australia

1,256,340

2,719,951

116.5

Taiwan

20,681,557

19,584,790

-5.3

Turkey

27,631

2,512,204

8991.98

Germany

5,832,620

6,157,673

5.57

Germany

2,071,724

2,142,487

3.42

Mexico

2,921,585

3,195,900

9.39

France

1,405,701

1,972,172

40.3

France

2,335,927

2,456,656

5.17

U.K.

1,408,319

1,085,149

-22.95

India

2,871,208

2,395,664

-16.56

Mexico

593,607

546,516

-7.93

Japan

2,425,661

2,016,324

-16.88

Italy

232,317

444,581

91.37

Italy

2,262,831

1,614,972

-28.63

Hong Kong

38,843

438,545

1029.02

U.K.

1,444,474

1,512,863

4.73

New Zealand

139,309

338,668

143.11

094 惠達雜誌

Industry Focus >> HS 8207 Interchangeable Tools for Hand Tools or Machine Tools Rank

Jan-Jul 2022

Partner World

Jan-Jul 2023

Same Period Change

593,610,316 500,730,959

-15.65

Rank

Partner World USA

Jan-Jul 2022

Jan-Jul 2023

Same Period Change

288,715,346 225,971,190

-21.73

225,599,896 160,526,280

-28.84

USA

215,821,510 221,654,224

2.7

China

163,556,433 108,965,239

-33.38

Mexico

11,679,392

14,372,372

23.06

Australia

4,971,765

5,919,997

19.07

Germany

28,153,606

32,598,443

15.79

Sweden

20,597,093

21,816,607

5.92

Chile

3,372,529

3,713,165

10.1

Japan

61,714,087

18,417,817

-70.16

U.S. Outlying Islands

3,485,137

3,558,009

2.09

S. Korea

18,861,857

13,337,255

-29.29

Kazakhstan

3,194,989

2,764,703

-13.47

Taiwan

14,869,306

13,107,600

-11.85

Germany

305,509

2,309,995

656.11

Italy

7,643,683

6,691,652

-12.46

Brazil

2,872,793

1,794,168

-37.55

India

5,735,027

5,989,301

4.43

Colombia

3,496,325

1,716,642

-50.9

Mexico

4,082,801

4,549,625

11.43

Finland

2,011,567

1,714,126

-14.79

Source: Canada.ca

Brazil Brazil imported about US$134 million of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), US$42 million of hand tools (product code 8205) and US$29 million of hand-operated wrenches (product code 8204) in the first 7 months of 2023, representing increases of 1.37%, 6.22% and 0.87% over the same period of 2022, respectively. Brazil exported approximately US$78 million of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), US$109 million of hand tools (product code 8205), and US$0.04 billion of hand wrenches (product code 8204), representing decreases of 14.68%, 5.15%, and 13.12%, respectively, from the same period of 2022. Of the “8204” category, the top 3 import sources were China, Taiwan and India. Among the top 10 import sources, India recorded the largest decline (-13.29%) from the previous period and the UK recorded the largest increase (135.48%). The top 3 export destinations were Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. Among the top 10 export destinations, South Africa (56.71%) recorded the largest decrease and Uruguay recorded the largest increase (47.15%) from the previous same period of 2022. Of the “8205” category, the top 3 import sources were China, Germany and USA. Among the top 10 import sources, the largest decline from the previous period was India (-24.07%) and the largest increase was Sweden (93.64%). The top 3 export destinations were Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia. Among the top 10 export destinations, Peru experienced the largest decline (-15.08%) from the previous same period and Venezuela experienced the largest increase (3,768.84%).

◣ Import Rank

Country World

HS 8204 Hand-Operated Spanners & Wrenches Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change (USD)

6,496,738

6,444,044

29,112,769

29,365,077

0.87%

China

3,872,567

3,799,407

14,821,553

13,891,323

-6.28%

Taiwan

416,012

587,720

3,865,758

5,687,784

47.13%

India

1,598,936

1,348,942

6,109,428

5,297,487

-13.29%

USA

17,445

18,211

925,960

934,062

0.87%

Germany

50,975

54,692

714,266

828,047

15.93%

Italy

97,264

110,633

547,412

633,820

15.78%

Japan

275,853

383,336

323,924

365,542

12.85%

France

8,194

2,724

261,027

339,812

30.18%

Netherlands

26,630

25,525

184,477

191,498

3.81%

U.K.

2,299

1,284

75,469

177,718

135.48% 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no60/2023

Of the “8207” category, the top 3 import sources were USA, Mexico and the Netherlands. Among the top 10 import sources, S. Korea registered the largest decline (-72.06%) over the previous same period, while Italy registered the largest increase (76.97%). The top 3 export destinations were Canada, Mexico and Germany. Among the top 10 export destinations, the largest decrease in the previous same period was the Netherlands (-31.47%), while the largest increase was Mexico (168.62%).

095

Industry Focus >> HS 8205 Hand Tools, Blow Torches, Anvils Rank

Country / Region World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change (USD)

8,124,374

8,897,552

40,357,730

42,868,044

6.22%

China

7,145,571

7,969,243

24,222,976

24,828,117

2.50%

Germany

57,083

58,741

2,583,835

3,179,911

23.07%

USA

43,187

44,910

2,988,892

3,098,611

3.67%

Taiwan

145,127

189,752

1,780,607

2,037,053

14.40%

France

5,634

6,604

1,348,431

1,296,416

-3.86%

Sweden

38,594

42,573

579,424

1,121,999

93.64%

Italy

15,870

16,247

461,779

859,206

86.06%

India

328,373

227,909

940,949

714,451

-24.07%

Hong Kong

141,233

183,742

411,376

639,341

55.42%

U.K.

2,764

7,698

699,487

624,686

-10.69%

HS 8207 Interchangeable Tools for Hand Tools or Machine Tools Rank

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change (USD)

8,258,025

7,948,190

132,545,071

134,358,526

1.37%

China

5,454,831

5,713,010

46,051,580

47,885,510

3.98%

Country World

1 2

USA

184,746

228,993

13,634,208

17,175,877

25.98%

Germany

159,113

101,551

12,747,171

12,626,931

-0.94%

Sweden

597,314

452,445

9,192,904

11,132,999

21.10%

Italy

81,101

114,577

2,848,029

5,040,163

76.97%

Japan

58,340

44,283

4,174,453

4,530,293

8.52%

Taiwan

78,965

99,743

4,138,862

4,142,762

0.09%

South Korea

1,059,993

468,314

14,663,455

4,097,307

-72.06%

India

60,019

105,241

3,188,556

3,421,919

7.32%

Mexico

56,104

56,770

3,094,370

3,285,837

6.19%

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

◣ Export HS 8204 Hand-Operated Spanners & Wrenches Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change (USD)

637,337

520,999

5,268,685

4,577,470

-13.12%

Paraguay

146,367

154,427

1,242,031

1,333,996

7.40%

Bolivia

200,452

138,287

1,436,794

1,032,871

-28.11%

Argentina

66,500

49,332

510,421

514,650

0.83%

Uruguay

27,349

39,619

250,349

368,384

47.15%

Chile

31,668

26,405

336,579

273,862

-18.63%

Peru

56,244

39,902

377,051

262,737

-30.32%

South Africa

11,503

4,481

210,936

91,315

-56.71%

Mexico

6,268

9,809

61,576

83,414

35.47%

Ecuador

7,869

7,639

64,698

64,546

-0.23%

Germany

25,696

6,692

112,213

59,262

-47.19%

096 惠達雜誌

Industry Focus >> HS 8205 Hand Tools, Blow Torches, Anvils Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change (USD)

1,589,230

1,337,294

10,366,621

9,832,742

-5.15%

Paraguay

222,510

188,367

1,453,508

1,410,127

-2.98%

Peru

405,089

303,615

1,220,289

1,036,272

-15.08%

Bolivia

253,942

241,204

1,004,884

1,027,198

2.22%

Argentina

87,225

53,957

833,103

902,866

8.37%

USA

27,910

23,573

747,000

759,707

1.70%

Mexico

62,766

158,307

249,285

651,550

161.37%

Chile

27,554

23,981

588,657

515,947

-12.35%

Venezuela

736

14,914

10,865

420,349

3768.84%

Uruguay

56,144

52,488

387,457

402,011

3.76%

Ecuador

38,256

31,644

289,500

264,986

-8.47%

HS 8207 Interchangeable Tools for Hand Tools or Machine Tools Rank

Country World

USA

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change (USD)

3,716,666

3,210,455

91,924,740

78,428,537

-14.68%

954,722

1,074,622

28,125,976

30,951,053

10.04%

Mexico

121,118

641,095

4,339,343

11,656,141

168.62%

Netherlands

245,308

150,325

15,573,535

10,672,943

-31.47%

Argentina

1,978,164

507,864

29,136,847

8,128,233

-72.10%

Colombia

89,014

534,016

1,269,710

3,232,786

154.61%

Paraguay

89,444

75,729

2,253,446

1,935,366

-14.12%

Australia

14,731

21,153

1,195,984

1,746,459

46.03%

Japan

11,466

8,157

1,647,832

1,252,674

-23.98%

Italy

4,184

4,985

714,192

1,152,314

61.35%

Russia

2,966

911,979

N/A

Taiwan In the first 7 months of 2023, Taiwan imported approximately 0.46 million tons of hand tools (product code 8205), 0.42 million tons of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207) and 0.34 million tons of hand-operated wrenches (product code 8204), representing a decrease of 21.28%, an increase of 11.86%, and a decrease of 32.02% from the same period in 2022, respectively. Taiwan exported about 46 thousand tons of hand tools (product code 8205), 45 thousand tons of hand-operated wrenches (product Code 8204) and 0.71 million tons of interchangeable hand tools (product code 8207), representing decreases of 28.56%, 19.83% and 23.93% over the same period of 2022, respectively. Of the “8204” category (by weight), the top 3 import sources were China, Vietnam and Japan. Among the top 10 import sources, Germany recorded the largest decline (-58.19%) over the previous same period and Singapore recorded the largest increase (542.41%). The top 3 export destinations were USA, China and Russia. Among the top 10 export destinations, China recorded the largest decrease (-48.04%) and Russia recorded the largest increase (45.63%).

Of the “8205” category (by weight), the top 3 import sources were China, Vietnam and Japan. Among the top 10 import sources, S. Korea recorded the largest decrease (-55.49%) and the Netherlands recorded the largest increase (258.76%) over the previous same period. The top 3 export destinations were USA, Japan and Germany. Among the top 10 export destinations, USA registered the largest decrease (-36.15%) and Russia registered the largest increase (45.8%). Of the “8207” category (by weight), the top 3 import sources were China, Japan and Vietnam. Among the top 10 import sources, Germany recorded the largest decrease (-32.49%) a nd Ca nada recorded t he la rgest i ncrease (13,311.34%) over the previous same period. The top 3 export destinations were USA, China and Japan. Among the top 10 export destinations, Germany recorded the largest decrease (-48.38%) and Indonesia recorded the la rgest increase (107.85%) from the previous same period. 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no60/2023

Source: Ministry of Industry, External Commerce and Service of Brazil

097

Industry Focus >> ◣ Import HS 8204 Hand-Operated Spanners & Wrenches Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg) 5,076,798

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg) 3,451,009

Same Period Change -32.02%

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD) 29,792,064

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD) 21,342,238

Same Period Change -28.36%

China

3,946,087

2,635,895

-33.20%

20,242,082

12,719,415

-37.16%

Vietnam

881,139

604,490

-31.40%

4,075,287

3,400,576

-16.56%

Japan

103,143

94,329

-8.55%

2,278,776

1,790,832

-21.41%

India

65,855

37,850

-42.53%

343,998

196,567

-42.86%

Turkey

22,700

23,853

5.08%

197,274

217,640

10.32%

USA

11,710

11,610

-0.85%

748,834

868,184

15.94%

Italy

9,037

7,118

-21.24%

88,593

71,391

-19.42%

Germany

12,477

5,217

-58.19%

579,826

534,865

-7.75%

Spain

1,121

3,361

199.82%

32,981

119,297

261.71%

Singapore

448

2,878

542.41%

21,160

12,225

-42.23%

HS 8205 Hand Tools, Blow Torches, Anvils Rank

Country

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Same Period Change

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change

5,864,131

4,615,959

-21.28%

34,069,398

26,103,688

-23.38%

China

5,342,341

4,123,412

-22.82%

21,299,057

14,910,765

-29.99%

Vietnam

167,144

210,393

25.88%

718,715

996,227

38.61%

Japan

135,426

101,405

-25.12%

3,996,955

2,574,538

-35.59%

Germany

35,764

24,947

-30.25%

1,795,822

1,186,332

-33.94%

India

27,550

20,707

-24.84%

165,405

136,405

-17.53%

Netherlands

5,560

19,947

258.76%

752,425

1,021,284

35.73%

United States

20,329

16,621

-18.24%

1,963,839

1,884,225

-4.05%

Italy

19,734

13,178

-33.22%

256,606

239,189

-6.79%

Thailand

15,995

12,524

-21.70%

175,331

72,335

-58.74%

S. Korea

12,718

5,661

-55.49%

268,374

185,667

-30.82%

HS 8207 Interchangeable Tools for Hand Tools or Machine Tools Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Same Period Change

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change

3,771,807

4,219,087

11.86%

102,991,590

88,055,801

-14.50%

China

2,887,966

3,139,807

8.72%

38,551,552

38,980,942

1.11%

Japan

289,558

402,251

38.92%

33,963,682

23,203,400

-31.68%

Vietnam

155,202

200,435

29.14%

1,106,658

1,792,241

61.95%

Germany

152,502

102,950

-32.49%

6,077,699

5,697,510

-6.26%

S. Korea

114,039

97,247

-14.72%

8,039,428

5,831,600

-27.46%

Canada

247

33,126

13,311.34%

385,405

618,254

60.42%

India

3,344

25,786

671.11%

279,657

332,601

18.93%

Singapore

16,421

13,361

-18.63%

3,966,234

2,506,441

-36.81%

USA

16,150

12,454

-22.89%

2,267,638

1,808,446

-20.25%

Sweden

4,176

11,081

165.35%

203,577

94,162

-53.75%

098 惠達雜誌

Industry Focus >> ◣ Export HS 8204 Hand-Operated Spanners & Wrenches Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Same Period Change

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change

56,239,146

45,089,341

-19.83%

518,762,245

460,378,885

-11.25%

USA

24,980,926

20,284,894

-18.80%

229,066,523

195,206,947

-14.78%

China

9,775,692

5,079,564

-48.04%

49,199,882

25,039,782

-49.11%

Russia

1,158,743

1,687,444

45.63%

12,652,391

19,000,996

50.18%

Germany

2,117,262

1,672,452

-21.01%

29,449,094

26,186,638

-11.08%

Netherlands

1,888,110

1,583,700

-16.12%

21,933,303

22,706,178

3.52%

Australia

1,803,367

1,499,884

-16.83%

20,635,625

17,591,207

-14.75%

France

1,330,745

1,109,791

-16.60%

19,235,143

18,562,283

-3.50%

Japan

1,176,316

1,044,282

-11.22%

17,010,558

18,571,422

9.18%

Indonesia

901,311

868,254

-3.67%

5,999,787

5,616,351

-6.39%

U.K.

839,154

806,675

-3.87%

9,612,682

10,004,349

4.07%

Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Same Period Change

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change

64,761,297

46,264,253

-28.56%

747,233,175

585,142,681

-21.69%

USA

29,776,176

19,012,578

-36.15%

330,199,033

244,236,600

-26.03%

Japan

3,363,002

2,711,158

-19.38%

44,296,615

36,209,032

-18.26%

Germany

2,832,924

1,977,853

-30.18%

38,790,322

28,833,079

-25.67%

U.K.

2,653,295

1,950,331

-26.49%

36,280,553

26,341,379

-27.40%

China

1,935,443

1,935,513

0.00%

19,092,702

13,841,030

-27.51%

Australia

2,338,192

1,856,707

-20.59%

28,564,265

26,026,934

-8.88%

Russia

1,168,770

1,704,114

45.80%

13,759,138

19,423,906

41.17%

Netherlands

1,869,159

1,441,040

-22.90%

26,509,024

20,125,583

-24.08%

Mexico

1,629,529

1,220,168

-25.12%

16,152,142

13,678,059

-15.32%

Sweden

1,300,437

1,181,146

-9.17%

15,728,398

13,930,548

-11.43%

HS 8207 Interchangeable Tools for Hand Tools or Machine Tools Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Same Period Change

Jan-Jul 2022 (USD)

Jan-Jul 2023 (USD)

Same Period Change

9,372,464

7,129,752

-23.93%

319,914,958

250,751,046

-21.62%

USA

2,859,519

2,123,620

-25.74%

59,181,125

50,465,164

-14.73%

China

1,471,813

1,165,332

-20.82%

101,721,629

69,692,170

-31.49%

Japan

859,581

748,687

-12.90%

19,027,285

15,848,150

-16.71%

Vietnam

441,396

445,887

1.02%

10,928,081

8,529,527

-21.95%

Malaysia

274,810

288,046

4.82%

5,085,757

4,050,900

-20.35%

Russia

229,865

264,131

14.91%

7,313,021

9,920,462

35.65%

Germany

324,418

167,469

-48.38%

12,773,702

10,254,466

-19.72%

Indonesia

78,876

163,945

107.85%

4,770,199

6,281,518

31.68%

Thailand

183,236

150,727

-17.74%

11,628,018

9,317,643

-19.87%

India

85,289

128,448

50.60%

5,184,397

5,643,548

8.86%

Source: Bureau of Foreign Trade (Taiwan) 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no60/2023

HS 8205 Hand Tools, Blow Torches, Anvils

099

Industry Focus >>

Japan In the first 7 months of 2023, Japan imported about 36,000 tons of hand tools (Japan product code 61705), down 10.43% from the same period in 2022. In terms of value, Japan imported about 99.6 billion yens of hand tools, down 4.13% from the same period in 2022, and exported about 40,400 tons of hand tools, down 6.96% from the same period in 2022. In terms of value, exports amounted to 237.9 billion yens, a decrease of 3.49% from the same period in 2022. The top 3 import sources were China, S. Korea and Taiwan. Among the top 10 import sources, Taiwan experienced the largest decline (-17.41%, by weight) over the previous same period, while Indonesia experienced the largest increase (48.23%). The top 3 export destinations were Mexico, USA and China. Among the top 10 export destinations, India recorded the largest decrease (49.8%, by weight) and Mexico recorded the largest increase (843.72%) from the previous same period.

◣ Import Rank

Country World

Jan-Jul 2023 (kg)

Same Period Change

Jan-Jul 2022 (JPY1,000)

Jan-Jul 2023 (JPY1,000)

Same Period Change

40,761,376

36,509,391

-10.43%

103,992,288

99,697,627

-4.13%

China

23,381,651

21,271,790

-9.02%

38,416,964

35,662,502

-7.17%

S. Korea

5,998,157

5,230,056

-12.81%

11,349,024

10,580,754

-6.77%

Taiwan

6,076,110

5,018,151

-17.41%

12,198,781

11,818,157

-3.12%

Vietnam

868,977

858,451

-1.21%

5,061,682

4,558,414

-9.94%

Thailand

833,576

800,626

-3.95%

5,451,800

5,456,175

0.08%

Germany

875,388

778,367

-11.08%

6,694,858

6,752,755

0.86%

USA

650,172

597,284

-8.13%

6,108,295

6,370,407

4.29%

Indonesia

292,328

433,313

48.23%

1,589,547

1,635,424

2.89%

Switzerland

199,844

213,486

6.83%

2,242,672

2,493,755

11.20%

Philippines

168,688

195,943

16.16%

673,139

655,196

-2.67%

Rank

Country World

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

Jan-Jul 2022 (kg)

◣ Export

100

Japan P.C. Code 61705 All hand tools

Japan P.C. Code 61511 All hand tools Jan-Jul 2022 Jan-Jul 2023 Same Period Jan-Jul 2022 Jan-Jul 2023 Same Period (kg) (kg) Change (JPY1,000) (JPY1,000) Change 43,480,289

40,455,327

-6.96%

246,546,328

237,949,763

-3.49%

Mexico

1,111,581

10,490,229

843.72%

5,100,975

22,376,963

338.68%

USA

13,780,311

8,833,559

-35.90%

51,985,103

49,241,559

-5.28%

China

5,679,371

5,436,591

-4.27%

50,520,473

40,682,679

-19.47%

Indonesia

3,289,114

2,327,057

-29.25%

8,913,972

7,221,366

-18.99%

S. Korea

2,284,888

2,209,243

-3.31%

14,147,667

13,140,137

-7.12%

Thailand

2,547,711

1,502,662

-41.02%

18,785,757

15,735,978

-16.23%

India

2,703,743

1,357,383

-49.80%

10,422,714

9,653,520

-7.38%

Turkey

121,159

1,034,858

754.13%

852,803

2,335,698

173.88%

Taiwan

1,101,600

906,773

-17.69%

13,702,262

9,883,503

-27.87%

Germany

884,620

656,546

-25.78%

12,670,217

13,689,448

8.04%

Source: Ministry of Finance, Japan

Conclusion Summarizing the above data, the import and export of hand tools from USA, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and Brazil increased or decreased in the first 7 months of 2023, and there are obvious changes in the import and export with certain trade partners, which are worth noting. Manufacturers interested in exploring these markets may consider launching competitive products with better design in these categories to capitalize on the trend and expand their market share in these countries/regions. 惠達雜誌

Special Feature >>

Innovation Alley 五金新品大道 Simplified Welded Steel Fastening With FX 3-A Cordless Stud Fusion System FX 3-A無線螺柱融接鎖緊工具簡化焊接鋼的固定作業 The new FX 3-A cordless stud fusion system introduced by Hilti cuts welding time significantly. Covering higher loads and thinner base materials than previous Hilti products, cordless stud fusion is up to 75% faster than traditional welding methods and is a fully mobile and autonomous system with no power cables needed. This fastening method is also safer than traditional welding methods as it helps shield users from heat and gas. With virtually no sparks, splatters fumes and no angle grinder needed for surface preparation, it offers more significant advantages from a health and safety perspective. Compared to welding and other methods like bolting and clamping, cordless stud fusion allows more speed and flexibility in engineering, procurement, and construction.

New Screw Driving Machine with 2.5 Times More Fastening Locations to Support Various Products 新螺絲鎖緊機，擰緊點增加 2.5 倍，可處理各種產品 On October 1, Nitto Seiko released the new SR580/RC7000 screw fastening robot that can handle a wide variety of products. The number of screw fastening locations on a workpiece that can be registered per robot has been increased to 100, which is 2.5 times the number of conventional models, and the number of screw fastening conditions has been increased to 20, which is 4 times the number of conventional models. Flexible settings enable the robot to handle a wide range of products with many threads or products with different screw fastening conditions. Two robot models are available: the SR580Yθ with two simultaneous control axles and the SR580Yθ-Z with three simultaneous axles, each of which comes with the RC7000-S controller and a screw supply unit. A two-step motion has been added to the robot, which descends to a position away from the screw fastening position, stops once, and then moves to a position above the screw fastening location. This enables fastening of screws at fastening locations that are difficult to approach from directly above, reducing the possibility of workpiece damage. 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

Engineers know they will get more reliable loads–through repeatable and consistent fastenings–as well as more flexibility for design changes. Procurement can choose from a wide portfolio of studs with international approvals and corrosion resistance (up to C5 in highly corrosive environments). As a result, construction becomes not only faster than traditional methods, but it can also be done by almost anyone—with minimal training—helping to reduce the risk of installation error.

101

Special Feature >> Next-Gen M18 FUEL Impact Wrenches 次世代M18 FUEL系列衝擊扳手 The M18 FUEL ½” High Torque Impact Wrench with Friction Ring by Milwaukee provides users with the best combination of power and size to maximize productivity. A PowerState Brushless Motor delivers nut-busting torque up to 1,500 ft.-lbs. with a M18 RedLithium XC5.0 Battery and up to 1,600 ft.-lbs. with Milwaukee’s new M18 RedLithium Forge XC6.0 Battery. The Wrench is capable of removing stubborn bolts and nuts. Standing as the lightest and most compact high torque impact wrench on the market, it allows more access in tight spaces and offers increased ease of use in application, with the fastest removal speeds in class. The M18 FUEL ½” High Torque Impact Wrench with Pin Detent provides professional users with up to 900 ft.-lbs. of fastening torque and delivers up to 1,100 ft.-lbs. of nut-busting torque when paired with a M18 RedLithium XC5.0 Battery pack. Offering more access in tight spaces, this cordless impact wrench measures at the shortest length in its class to deliver the lightest and most compact solution for users.

Simulated Assembly Workstation to Increase Torque Testing Range Up to 350Nm 模擬裝配工作站將測試扭矩提昇至350Nm

transportation and automobiles. The introduction of the simulated assembly workstation means that we are in a position to help these customers solve the problems they may encounter in high torque threaded connection applications by helping them to find and validate suitable solutions,” said the engineering department of Bossard Fastening Solutions (Shanghai). In addition, when coupled with ultrasonic equipment, the simulated assembly system can also obtain fastening parameters such as torque, angle, axis force, coefficient of friction, coefficient of torque, and a variety of assembly parameter curves of the threaded connection during the fastening process, which is conducive to a more detailed analysis of threaded connection.

Cordless 18V Brushless Rivet Nut Gun

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

無線 18V 無刷拉帽槍

102

This assembly simulation system by Bossard (Shanghai) is equipped with a robotic arm that simulates actual assembly conditions to obtain the torque and angle relationships of the assembly setup, thus verifying the accuracy of the assembly process. “The accuracy of the high torque assembly process is important for critical applications in industries such as rail

惠達雜誌

The 18V Brushless Rivet Nut Gun by Metabo has a quickchange mandrel system that can rivet up to M10 in aluminum, M8 in steel and M6 in stainless steel. It includes an easy setting force adjustment with 99 values and 10 memory settings. In addition, it has an autoreverse feature that automatically resets the tool for quick reload.

Special Feature >> The 18V Brushless Rivet Nut Gun is available as a bare tool and when paired with a compact 4.0 Ah LiHD (Lithium High Density) battery, it can secure 1,800 M5 rivets on a single charge and has a pulling force of 1,500 N or 337 feet per lb. This one-handed rivet gun is extremely fast, lightweight, and well balanced for maximized ergonomics. It also includes safety features, such as a hand protection guard and balancing loop.

fabrication, and automotive work. They are well-suited for a variety of fastening and anchoring applications in wood, metal and concrete. .

Nepros neXT 9.5sq. Ratchet Wrench Nepros neXT 9.5sq.棘輪扳手

The Metabo NMP 18 LTX BL Cordless Rivet Nut Gun is the ideal solution used by roofers, contractors, HVAC technicians and more when connecting flat stock with threaded connections on any jobsite.

New 18V Impact Wrench 新的18V衝擊扳手

The SSW 18 LTX 800 BL by Metabo provides a maximum tightening torque of 590 ft-lbs., breakaway torque of 885 ft-lbs., no-load speed of 2,575 rpm, and impact rate of 3,300 BPM – all driven by a ½” square drive with friction ring. It is available as a bare tool (602403840), or as a 2x8.0 LiHD battery kit complete with ASC 55 charger (US602403620). Both versions come standard with belt hook and metaBOX 145 stackable carrying case. The SSW 18 LTX 800 BL comes with Metabo’s 2nd Generation Brushless Motor which extends run time, maximizes power, and increases motor life. Twelve different speed/torque settings can be easily chosen with a simple push of the thumb dial, including APS Mode (Automatic Power Shift), which automatically downshifts to a lower rpm once breakaway torque is achieved to reduce lug nut spin-off and free-fall. Other safety features include: two integrated LED work lights to illuminate the work area for easier and safer operation, tethering point for lanyard attachment when working at height, and an ergonomic, rubber-coated non-slip grip for impact protection and comfort.

Product Features: * The handle has been completely remodeled. * Strength and extreme lightness are achieved through an optimized X structure that spreads the load over the entire ratchet. * The handle has no edges, the finger grip is flat and the gripping section is rounded. * The head surface is high-speed shot-peened with ceramic beads to increase surface hardness and strength. * The size of the ratchet head has been reduced, making it lighter and the balance is optimized for easier use. * 90 gears and precision grade 8 pawls achieve lightness and strength. * Total length 180 mm / Head width 25.5 mm / Head thickness 14 mm / Handle ∅23 mm / Weight 210 grams.

This impact wrench is ideal for nearly every trade, from HVAC, mechanical contractors and carpenters to metalworking, compiled by Fastener World

惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

KTC Tools’ Nepros neXT 9.5sq. Ratchet Wrench is designed by observing and studying the posture of the person using the tool, and based on an optimization analysis. It has a compact structure that is lightweight and has the necessary strength designed. It takes into account strength, rigidity, lightness, balance, familiar shape, and it is easy-to-use, optimized for different people, and pursues the ultimate in practicality.

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Technology >>

tructures do not have to be only buildings and bridges; they are anything larger than a PC board that is assembled outside of a mass assembly line. This would include cranes, lift trucks, wind turbines, storage tanks, amusement rides, etc. Each structure has special assembly needs to assure safety and performance of the finished product. The only accurate method of producing a predictable amount of clamp load is by measuring the actual stretch of the fastener. This may be achieved by several different means and products that produce a low amount of error. Those methods include load cells, load washers, load indicating cap screws, ultrasonic transducers and even the turn-of-the-nut method. Load cells are used on site to ‘qualify’ the projected performance of job-site bolts and nuts. This, of course, is used in conjunction with a digital or click-type torque wrench. This method, like others, does not guarantee installation performance due to some external variables. However, the per-cent of errors are low.

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

L o a d i nd i c at i n g wa s her s , or D i re c t Tension Indicators (DTI) are quite simple to use, are a bit expensive but very useful on critical assemblies. Their accuracy is only as consistent as the operator.

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U lt r a s o n i c t r a n s d u c e r s a r e a l s o a n extremely accurate means of measuring the stretch of the fastener. This method is very expensive and is not a permanent fixture as is a load washer. The transducer head can be moved from one fastener to the next, but the only drawback is that the head and point end of the cap screw must be smooth and flat to accept the transducer head. This would mean grinding off the grade markings and manufacturer’s identification marks: removing all traceability of the fastener. Torque multipliers are very useful and accurate for large diameter bolts requiring high torque values. As torque values increase, so does the lever requirement of the wrench. Torque is measured in the amount of force (pounds for example) times the distance of the lever (foot for example). Therefore, we have a pound-foot. Some torque wrenches are up to three feet long to provide the leverage needed to tighten the nut or bolt. Beyond this, a torque multiplier is used. Torque multipliers are extremely useful when mounting wind generator platforms or rotating crane structures. Some units are manually operated while others are either electric or pneumatically actuated. 惠達雜誌

Tightening Strategies for Structural Bolting 結構物專用螺栓的緊固策略 Another great tool used in structures is by not using torque at all, but by turning the nut a certain degree of rotation. This method works with coarse threaded fasteners only and on solid metal-to-metal joints whose joint compression has been removed by pre-tightening with a short handled wrench. This will not directly translate to metric bolts, as the same thread pitch is used on other metric bolt diameters. Actual experimentation is needed for a particular size, thread pitch and joint thickness. How this works so well is because the threads of any standard bolt is a perfect helix. Therefore, when the mating helix threads of the nut are rotated along the threads of the bolt, the nut travels in a consistent linear direction. As the nut rotates against a solid joint surface, the bolt is being tensioned proportionately with respect to the rotation of the nut. This reasoning is derived from Hooke’s Law. Work is now being done on a ‘linear’ scale: if the nut is moved the same distance each time, or all of the nuts in the connection move the same distance, the stretch of the fastener is reproduced the same amount on each fastener. This gauged amount of stretch will produce a clamping force that is greater, more consistent and is more predictable with any fastener grade, surface condition or length of fastener using common assembly methods. So, what happens to torque? Torque is still present; we just do not measure it as such. Torque is always present in the form of friction as it is the energy we must overcome in order to move the nut a certain distance. Torque will not be measured here because we are more concerned with the distance the nut moves, not how we get there. For example: consider using four 1/2-13 Grade 8 fasteners; three are plated, the fourth is not. Of the plated bolts, one is dry to the touch, one is lubricated and the last one has a thread nick. If all four bolts are installed together in a connection and torqued to the same 105 lb-ft, none of the clamp loads will be remotely close to each other due to all of the friction variables present.

Technology >> Fig 1

The lubricated bolt will be the tightest because there was a tremendous reduction in friction. This bolt will probably produce over 18,000 pounds of clamp load and is just into yield. The dry plated bolt will be the closest to producing 12,800 pounds of clamp load, while the one with the thread nick will be around 10,000 lbs. The non-plated bolt will only produce approximately 8,0 0 0 pounds due to its rough surface finish. This is conservatively a 10,000 pound scatter. If after making sure the joint was soundly compressed and the bolt head was restrained from turning and all four UNC bolts were tightened by rotating the nut using the same angular degrees of rotation, then all of the fasteners would be stretched an equivalent amount. This would produce clamping forces that would only be a few hundred pounds apart, not thousands.

Fig 2

The difference to the operator is how much energy he must expend to cause the nut to rotate the prescribed amount. The non-plated fastener and the one with the nicked thread will require more ‘torque’ energy to turn the nut the same distance X as the others. Of course, the lubricated fastener will require the least amount of effort. The key element here is that all of the nuts have been rotated to X, not X-1 or X+2. This is the principle of the Turn-Of-the-Nut (TON) method. Structural joints use the ASTM A325 and A490 fasteners. Since Hooke’s Law states that stress is directly proportional to strain, and using the modulus of elasticity for steel, we find that if a bolt is stretched 0.001”, per loaded inch, it will produce a load of approximately 30,000 psi.

Fig 3

Therefore, according to the AISC Manual, the TON method uses the amount of rotation applied to the nut as a function of the diameter of the bolt based on the overall bolt length. This method, as shown in Fig. 1, provides the following three general rotations with respect to the diameter of the fastener and the joint thickness. First, if the fastener length is no larger than four times the diameter of the fastener, the nut is turned 1/3 of a turn or 120˚ after the nut has been snug tightened. Longer fastener lengths and their rotations are noted in Fig 1.

Tightening the bolt to the TON method of 120º, as in Fig. 1 for example, will stretch the bolt into yield as shown in Fig. 3. By doing so, the bolts will produce a maximum amount of clamp load with a minimal amount of clamp load scatter while input error does not matter.

Fig 4

Since the fasteners are into yield, they can never be reused again. This is also the principle of Torque-Turn-to-Yield (TTY) used by engine builders and others to maximize the load of the joint and minimize load scatter. First, the joint must be set rigid so all of the initial compression is removed. After this, the fastener is assured to be placed into immediate stretch while turning the nut. The TTY method uses a pre-torque to set the joint, the TON method uses a short handled hand wrench to ‘snug’ the nut until it is felt the joint has come together and any joint compression is removed. Again, these assembly methods place all the fasteners into yield. This same method used for ASTM structural fastener grades (ASTM A325 and A490) can be used for their strength equivalents of the SAE J429 Grades 5 and 8. The A325 or Grade 5 has a longer elastic curve than the 150 ksi A490, so both grades can use the same turn.

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

By looking at Figure 2, we can see the relationship of the helix thread to the stretch of a bolt using standard torque methods and the turn method. A torque value may stretch the bolt to less than 90º whereas using the turn method to rotate the nut 90º will have produced a much higher clamp load.

The only caveat I have when using any of these methods in a multiple bolt pattern is to tighten the bolts incrementally and in a cross pattern. (Fig 4) Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Guy Avellon

惠達雜誌

105

Industry Focus >>

Analysing Fastening Tools Trade and

Spain Portugal 分析西班牙與葡萄牙緊固工具貿易

Introduction

The Aerospace Industry

Fastening tools, a critical component of the construction, manufacturing, and automotive industries, play an indispensable role in securing various materials and components. Here we will find out what happened in this industry in Spain and Portugal.

Spain´s aerospace & defence industry is highly developed. Spain ranks 5th in sales (€11.59 billion in turnover in 2021) and the number of people employed (more than 49,600). It is a fast-growing industry that invests heavily in R&D (10% of its total turnover).

The Automotive Industry

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

Spain is the 2nd largest automaker in Europe and the 9th largest in the world. The automotive industr y is a strategic sector for the Spanish economy. 9 multinational brands with 17 plants are established in the country. With 99,524 newcar registrations in March 2023, Spain saw a 66.1% year-on-year increase compared to March 2022. T he f irst-quar ter f ig ures also appear promising at the first glance. In the first three months of 2023, Spain saw 237,672 new cars taken to the road, a year-on-year increase of 44.6%. The Spanish automotive industry turnover represents 10% of Spain’s GDP and 18% of total exports (including vehicles and auto-parts).

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Portugal’s vehicle registrations were 146,706 units in 2021 and in 2022 grew 6.6% to 156,309 units. Meanwhile, vehicle production is set to rise to 299,290 units in 2026 from 263,950 units in 2022, a annual growth of 1.9% on average. Since 2002, the country has seen a 13% yearly increase. Portugal ranked 29th in 2021, surpassed by Vietnam’s 263,950 units. The US, Japan and India were respectively the 2nd, 3rd and 4th in this ranking.

The Construction Industry

Portugal currently has around 90 companies, with more than 18,000 jobs and a business volume of €1,700 million per year in the aerospace industry in different areas of the country.

The Market Size of Fastening Tools Table 1. Spain’s Import of Fastening Tools: Import Source

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

World

487,512

412,574

339,402

389,875

375,346

Germany

123,638

116,546

102,829

103,988

94,340

China

79,664

68,067

57,419

70,259

79,369

Italy

58,093

48,804

38,056

51,766

45,942

Numbers are in thousand USD In the context of export to Spain from various countries (Table 1), we have observed significant shifts in market shares from 2018 to 2022. Here’s a closer look at the trends: Germany: Germany consistently held the largest market share, accounting for approximately a quarter of all exports to Spain in 2018. Although its market share decreased slightly over the years, it remained a dominant player in 2022 with around 25% of the market share. China: China’s market share exhibited a steady growth during this period, making it the second-largest exporter to Spain by 2022. In 2018, China’s share was approximately 16%, but by 2022, it had increased to over 21%. This suggests a strengthening presence of Chinese exports in the Spanish market.

The Spanish construction sector benefits from project investments out of the Next Generation EU fund. Construction output in Spain is forecast to grow by 1.8% in 2023, as interest rate increases hamper building projects across all subsectors.

Italy: Italy’s market share f luctuated during these years, but it generally maintained its position as the third-largest exporter to Spain. In 2018, Italy’s share was approximately 12%, and it hovered around that level, reaching 12.25% in 2022.

The Por tugal constr uction sector, af ter an estimated increase in production of 3.4% in 2022, is forecast to grow in activity, anticipating a real increase in the sector’s gross production value in 2023, ranging between 2.4% and 4.4%, a range corresponding to a midpoint of 3.4%.

The Rest of the World: The “Rest of the World” category, which encompasses export from various other countries, experienced f luctuations in the market share. However, it consistently held a significant portion of the market, ranging from 41.07% in 2021 to 43.47% in 2019. This category represents the combined contributions of several exporters outside of Germany, China, and Italy.

惠達雜誌

Industry Focus >>

Table 2 presents an insightful view of Spain’s exports to the world from 2018 to 2022. We can discern notable shifts in market shares during this period: Germany: Germany consistently claimed the largest market share, standing at nearly 37.62% in 2018. However, over the years, its market share gradually declined, reaching around 19.56% in 2022. This indicates a changing competitive landscape in Spain’s ex por ts, with Ger many’s prom i nence waning. France: France’s market share displayed a steady upward trend, mak ing it the second-largest expor ter f rom Spain by 2022. From 2018’s 6.49%, France’s market share increased to approximately 14.05% in 2022. This growth highlights France’s strengthening position in Spain’s export market. U. S.A: U.S. market share ex h ibited f luctuations, with noticeable dips and rebounds. Despite these var iations, it maintained a noteworthy presence, ranging from around 3.03% in 2020 to 9.51% in 2021, demonstrating its significance as an export destination. Po r t u g a l: Por t u g a l’s m a r k e t s h a r e remained relatively stable dur ing th is per iod, f luct uati n g bet ween 3.51% i n 2018 and 7.82% in 2022. This consistency suggests a consistent export relationship between Spain and Portugal. The Rest of the World: T he “Rest of the World” categor y experienced some va r iation s but gener a l ly ret a i ned a substantial share of the market, hovering around 50% to 58.46%. T h is categor y signif ies the combined contributions of several expor ters outside of Ger many, France, the USA, and Portugal. These trends indicate a dynamic export landscape for Spain, with France’s market share steadily increasing and Germany’s share gradually diminishing. While f luctuations were observed in the shares of the USA and Portugal, they maintained a presence in Spain’s export market. The “Rest of the World” category remained significant,

Table 2. Spain’s Export of Fastening Tools Export Destination

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

World

663,940

531,496

463,381

416,835

368,128

Germany

249,815

144,735

115,111

79,561

71,922

France

43,088

38,833

37,007

42,932

51,754

U.S.A

39,170

29,548

14,064

39,626

29,863

Portugal

23,325

23,807

26,335

29,040

28,839

Numbers are in thousand USD Table 3. Portugal’s Import of Fastening Tools Import Source

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

World

153,084

130,532

117,305

132,005

139,179

Spain

39,621

37,225

30,816

30,972

38,564

Germany

36,409

25,611

22,104

28,723

31,660

Belgium

14,008

13,366

12,563

18,233

14,533

Numbers are in thousand USD ref lecting the diversity of export partners for Spain. These shifts in market shares can be inf luenced by various economic factors, trade agreements, and global market dynamics, shaping Spain’s export competitiveness in the studied period. Table 3 sheds light on the dynamics of export to Portugal from 2018 to 2022, revealing interesting trends in market shares: Spain: Spain commenced with a substantial market share of approximately 25.89% in 2018. While its share experienced some f luctuations, it consistently maintained a strong position as the leading exporter to Portugal. By 2022, Spain’s market share had grown to around 27.73%, demonstrating its enduring dominance in this trade relationship. Germany: Germany, the second-largest exporter to Portugal, began with a market share of roughly 23.77% in 2018. Its share experienced some variance over the years, with a low point of 19.63% in 2019. Nevertheless, Germany remained a significant player in this market.

These trends reflect the stability and resilience of the trade relationship between Portugal and its neighbouring countries, especially Spain, which held a firm grip on the top position. Germany and Belgium, while experiencing fluctuations, maintained their roles as key contributors to Portugal’s imports. The shifts in market shares can be inf luenced by factors such as economic conditions, trade agreements, and evolving consumer preferences, ultimately shaping the competitive dynamics of the Portuguese market.

Hardware & Fastener Components - no60/2023

These trends suggest a dynamic landscape in export to Spain, with China’s presence growing steadily, Germany maintaining its lead, and the “Rest of the World” category remaining a substantial contributor. These shifts in market shares may be influenced by various economic factors, trade agreements, and consumer preferences, impacting the competitive dynamics of the Spanish market.

惠達雜誌

107

Belgium: Belgium contributed consistently to exports to Portugal, with its market share ranging from about 9.15% in 2018 to 10.71% in 2020. While it maintained the position of the third-largest exporter, it showed a relatively steady growth in its market share over the years. The “Rest of the World” categor y encompassed various other exporters and displayed some f luctuations in its market share, gradually declining from approximately 41.19% in 2018 to 38.04% in 2022.

Industry Focus >> Table 4. Portugal’s Export of Fastening Tools Export Destination

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

World

96,895

92,594

91,677

98,842

98,190

Spain

27,233

26,031

27,948

28,793

25,988

Germany

22,002

21,037

16,872

20,498

22,025

Numbers are in thousand USD Table 4 provides valuable insights into the dynamics of Portugal’s exports from 2018 to 2022, revealing distinct trends in market shares: Spain: Spai n com menced with a substantial market share of approximately 28.09% in 2018, maintaining its position as the largest export destination for Portugal. Over the years, Spain’s share remained relatively stable, with f luctuations ranging from 26.49% in 2022 to 30.47% in 2020. This consistency underscores Spain’s continued dominance in this trade relationship. Germany: Germany consistently held the second-largest market share, ranging from about 18.39% in 2020 to 22.71% in 2019. While experiencing some variability, Germany maintained its role as a significant contributor to Portugal’s exports. The “Rest of the World” category, comprising various other export destinations, exhibited f luctuations in the market share but generally decreased slightly over the years, from approximately 49.17% in 2019 to 51.06% in 2022. This category represents the combined contributions of several export destinations outside of Spain and Germany. These trends highlight the enduring partnership between Portugal and its neighbouring countries, with Spain consistently leading the way and Germany maintaining a steady second position. The fluctuations in market shares can be attributed to various factors, including economic conditions, trade agreements, and evolving global market dynamics, ultimately shaping the competitive landscape of Portugal’s export market.

The Future of Fastening Tools & Conclusion

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

The analysis of fastening tools in Spain and Portugal reveals intriguing dynamics within the respective markets. While the data provided offer valuable insights, predicting the future trajectory of this industry requires a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors. (Table 5)

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Spain:

However, Spain’s exports of fastening tools experienced f luctuations, indicating potential challenges in international markets or shifts in demand. To predict the f uture, Spain’s overall e conom ic hea lt h, con s t r uc t ion s e c tor performance, infrastructure development, and industrial growth must be closely monitored. Continued strength in these sectors could lead to a stable or expanding market for fastening tools.

Portugal: Por tugal’s impor t data show spikes in March and May 2023, indicating increased demand for fastening tools during those periods. Export from Portugal showed variations, with a peak in March 2023 but a decline in June, potentially ref lecting market challenges or seasonal factors. Similar to Spain, the future of fastening tools in Portugal depends on the country’s economic conditions, construction sector activities, and infrastr ucture projects. A sustained or growing demand will rely on the continued health of these sectors. In both countries, monitoring factors such as government policies, technological advancements, market competition, and global economic trends will be essential for making accurate predictions about the future of the fastening tools industry. Additionally, ongoing analysis of trade data, industrial development s, a nd sh i f t s i n con s u mer preferences will provide valuable insights into market trends and opportunities for growth. Overall, while there are f luctuations, the demand for fastening tools appears linked to the vitality of construction and industrial sectors, making these sectors pivotal for the industry’s future.

Spain has exhibited an increasing trend in imports of fastening tools from January to May 2023, suggesting a growing domestic demand for these tools, possibly driven by construction and industrial activities.

Table 5. Fastening Tool Tarde of Spain and Portugal in H1 2023 Jan-23

Feb-23

Mar-23

Apr-23

May-23

Jun-23

Spain's Imports

28,901

31,328

34,339

29,935

37,370

35,247

Spain's Exports

38,537

36,453

32,906

25,870

31,012

32,033

Portugal's Imports

10,461

10,659

13,942

10,379

11,332

12,860

Portugal's Exports

9,462

8,716

10,963

8,014

11,625

10,520

Numbers are in thousand USD

惠達雜誌

Industry Focus >>

Sweden

Fastening Tools Analysis

瑞典緊固工具分析

Supporting Economic Growth The fastening tools industry plays a vital role in Sweden's economy. It not only creates jobs but also contributes significantly to the country's export revenue. Swedish fastening tool manufacturers are known for their high-quality products which are sought after globally. With an emphasis on innovation and sustainability, Sweden's fastening tools i ndust r y rema i ns compet it ive i n t he international market. Swedish tools are trusted for their precision and reliability, driving demand worldwide. The following is the trend of Sweden's imported fastening tools (see Table 1).

Year 2018: In 2018, the total exports to Sweden amounted to $221,645,000 USD. Germany held the dominant market share at approximately 29.02%, making it the leading exporter. China, the U.S., and several other countries also had significant shares, contributing to a diversified export landscape. 1. 2. 3.

Germany (29.02%) China (7.72%) U.S.A (6.39%)

Year 2019:

Sweden, known for its impeccable engineering, innovation, and commitment to sustainability, has a thriving fastening tools industry. These tools play a crucial role in various sectors, including construction, manufacturing, and automotive industries. In this article, we will delve into the situation of fastening tools in Sweden, exploring the latest innovations, sustainable practices, and the industry's contribution to the country's economy. Innovation is at the core of Sweden fastening tools. Sweden has a long history of engineering excellence, and this extends to the fastening tools industry. Swedish companies are renowned for their innovative approach to tool design and manufacturing. From the iconic Swedish adjustable wrench to advanced cordless impact drivers, Sweden continues to push the boundaries of fastening technology. One prominent example of Swedish innovation in fastening tools is the development of intelligent torque control systems. These systems allow for precise tightening of bolts and screws, reducing the risk of overtightening or under-tightening, which can lead to equipment failures and safety hazards. Swedish companies have also embraced digitalization, offering tools with Bluetooth connectivity and mobile apps for real-time monitoring and control. Sustainability is the driving force in Sweden fastening tools industry, therefore; sustainability is a core value in Sweden, and the fastening tools industry is no exception. Swedish manufacturers are increasingly adopting sustainable practices in the production of their tools. This includes using eco-friendly materials, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing waste. One significant trend in the fastening tools industry is the shift towards battery-powered tools. Lithium-ion batteries have become more efficient and environmentally friendly, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and lowering carbon emissions. This transition aligns with Sweden's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and achieving a greener future. Moreover, companies are designing tools for longevity, emphasizing durability and repairability. This not only reduces the need for frequent replacements but also contributes to a circular economy by extending the life of products.

1. 2. 3.

Germany (27.80%) China (9.28%) The Netherlands (6.40%)

Year 2020: In 2020, exports to Sweden amounted to $184,692,000 USD. Despite a decrease in total exports, Germany remained the leading exporter, though its market share decreased to 26.40%. The Netherlands saw a significant increase in market share, becoming the second-largest exporter, while China continued to strengthen its position. 1. 2. 3.

Germany (26.40%) The Netherlands (11.34%) China (9.38%)

Year 2021: Exports to Sweden rebounded in 2021, reaching $233,579,000 USD. Germany maintained its top position, but its market share remained stable at around 26.38%. The Netherlands and China continued their growth trajectory, solidifying their positions as key players in the Swedish market. 1. 2. 3.

Germany (26.38%) China (10.68%) The Netherlands (10.00%) 惠達雜誌

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

Introduction

The total export to Sweden in 2019 slightly decreased to $194,353,0 0 0 USD. G er ma ny maintained its position as the top exporter, with a market share of approximately 27.80%. Notably, the Netherlands and China both experienced growth in their market shares, indicating an expanding presence in the Swedish market.

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Industry Focus >> Year 2022: In 2022, total exports to Sweden amounted to $223,578,000 USD. The Netherlands experienced remarkable growth in market share, surpassing Germany to become the leading exporter with a share of approximately 12.68%. China, while still growing, held the third position but remained a significant contributor to Sweden's imports. 1. 2. 3.

•

2020

2021

2022

184,692

233,579

223,578

Germany

64,307

54,029

48,747

61,616

60,305

Netherlands

12,851

12,451

20,950

23,356

28,389

China

17,119

18,023

17,344

24,948

26,238

USA

14,165

11,497

12,860

17,987

14,630

Finland

12,373

9,146

7,416

10,242

10,319

Austria

12,703

10,640

9,311

10,639

10,232

Denmark

11,332

10,306

9,520

9,840

10,225

Table 2. Sweden's Export Value of Fastening Tools (In USD 1,000)

South Africa

21,193

25,144

23,609

33,005

30,994

Norway

25,940

25,901

26,435

31,325

28,549

Canada

20,008

21,084

13,910

19,284

23,096

•

Diverse Market Landscape: Sweden's imports were not overly reliant on any single country, indicating a diverse and competitive supplier base.

Year 2018:

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

2019 194,353

T h e Ne t h e r l an d s' S ur g e: T h e Netherlands witnessed substantial growth in its market share, reflecting its increasing importance as a source of imports for Sweden.

The following is the trend of Sweden's exported fastening tools. (see Table 2)

110

2018 221,645

Importers

China's Ascendance: China's market share steadily grew over the years, positioning it as a prominent player in Sweden's import market.

In 2018, Sweden's total exports to the world amounted to $350,167,000 USD. Australia emerged as the leading importer with a market share of approximately 9.71%, closely followed by the U.S.A and Norway. This diversified set of importers demonstrated Sweden's ability to access various global markets. Australia (9.71%) U.S.A (9.66%) Norway (7.40%)

Year 2019: In 2019, Sweden's exports continued to grow, reaching $353,122,000 USD. Australia maintained its position as the top importer, reflecting strong trade relations. Meanwhile, the U.S., South Africa, and Norway also continued to be significant importers, underlining Sweden's global reach. 1. 2. 3.

World

Germany's Consistency: Germany consistently held the largest market share, showcasing its reliability as a trading partner with Sweden.

•

1. 2. 3.

Exports to Sweden

Germany (26.98%) The Netherlands (12.68%) China (11.75%)

Overall, this five-year analysis reveals several noteworthy trends: •

Table 1. Sweden's Import Value of Fastening Tools (In USD 1,000)

Australia (10.54%) U.S.A (8.75%) South Africa (7.12%)

惠達雜誌

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

World

350,167

353,122

302,636

347,574

349,236

USA

33,796

30,923

25,536

29,816

42,328

Australia

34,020

37,233

37,189

45,807

36,667

Year 2020: The year 2020 brought some fluctuations in Sweden's exports, with a total value of $302,636,000 USD. Australia maintained its leading position in imports from Sweden. Notably, the U.S. saw a slight decrease in market share, while Norway and Canada remained key importers, though Canada's share notably decreased. 1. 2. 3.

Australia (12.29%) U.S.A (8.45%) Norway (8.73%)

Year 2021: In 2021, Sweden's exports increased to $347,574,000 USD. Australia retained its position as the leading importer, emphasizing its strong trade ties with Sweden. The U.S. experienced a resurgence in market share, becoming the second-largest importer, followed by South Africa and Norway, which maintained their significant roles. 1. 2. 3.

Australia (13.17%) South Africa (9.49%) Norway (9.01%)

Year 2022: The year 2022 saw Sweden's total exports amounting to $349,236,000 USD. The U.S. emerged as the leading importer, with a notable increase in market share. Australia, although still a significant importer, experienced a decrease in market share. South Africa and Norway also remained important destinations for Sweden's exports, contributing to the country's global trade network. 1. 2. 3.

U.S.A (12.13%) Australia (10.50%) South Africa (8.88%)

In summary, this five-year analysis provides valuable insights into Sweden's export destinations and changing market dynamics: •

Australia's Consistency: Australia consistently held a significant share of Sweden's exports, emphasizing the strong trade relations between the two countries.

•

United States' Resurgence: The U.S. saw its market share grow over the years, becoming the leading importer in 2022.

•

Diverse Importer Base: Sweden's exports were well-diversified among

Industry Focus >> countries, highlighting its ability to access various global markets. •

•

South Africa's Steady Growth: South Africa maintained steady grow th in its market share, demonstrating its increasing role in Sweden's export landscape. Norway's Stable Role: Norway consistently played a significant role as an importer, reflecting its close economic ties with Sweden.

Conclusion and the Future of Sweden Fastening Tools

Table 3. Fastening Tool Trade with Sweden in the World

(Value in USD 1,000)

World's Export to Sweden World's Import from Sweden

Jan-23

Feb-23

Mar-23

Apr-23

May-23

21,161

20,228

22,845

19,207

23,636

29,307

29,545

34,778

25,454

28,728

•

September 2023: $30,700,000 USD

•

November 2023: $31,200,000 USD

•

October 2023: $30,950,000 USD

•

December 2023: $31,450,000 USD

This forecast reflects a reasonably steady uptrend in global imports from Sweden throughout the latter half of the year. Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Sharareh Shahidi Hamedani

Table 3 shows the fastening tool trade with Sweden in the world. In conclusion, as we delve into the second half of 2023, it's prudent to make some informed speculations about the trade dynamics between Sweden and the world. Drawing upon data from the initial five months of the year, we can discern certain trends that allow us to anticipate the direction in which global trade with Sweden may be headed. However, it's important to emphasize that these estimates are subject to change based on real-world economic conditions and unforeseen events.

World Exports to Sweden

•

June 2023: $23,000,000 USD

•

July 2023: $23,200,000 USD

•

August 2023: $23,400,000 USD

•

September 2023: $23,600,000 USD

•

October 2023: $23,800,000 USD

•

November 2023: $24,000,000 USD

•

December 2023: $24,200,000 USD

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.60/2023

Analysing the data f rom the f irst five months of 2023, we observe some fluctuations in trade values. Nevertheless, assuming a moderately ascending trajectory, we can extrapolate the following monthly approximate export values for the remainder of the year:

These projections provide a tentative outlook on the potential growth in global export to Sweden during the latter half of the year.

World Imports from Sweden Similarly, examining data from the first five months of 2023, we anticipate a gradual expansion in imports from Sweden for the rest of the year: •

June 2023: $29,950,000 USD

•

July 2023: $30,200,000 USD

•

August 2023: $30,450,000 USD 惠達雜誌

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112 Hardware & Fastener Components no.60/2023