7/6/2009
NEWS BRIEF

The total 2008 export production value of Taiwanese fasteners hit a record NT$99.9 billion (US$3.1b), up 4.7% from 2007.

MIRDC industrial analyst Techin Huang noted that Taiwan’s fourth quarter fastener exports of NT$24.7 (US$754m) billion fell 12% from the third quarter.

The domestic market totaled NT$16.8 billion(US$512m) for 1.24 million tons.

Fourth quarter export tonnage dropped 20% from Q3 to 263,000 tons, according to Huang’s research for Fastener World magazine.

The U.S. takes 42% of Taiwan’s exports; Germany 7%; Japan and China 5% each; and Holland 4%.

Huang attributed the two-year decline in exports to the U.S. to the sub-prime mortgage in 2007 and global financial crisis in 2008.

Because the economic decline of major countries Taiwan exports fasteners to, “it is estimated that Taiwanese fastener exports will be greatly affected by the recession in the industry,” Huang wrote. “But after the final determination of anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese fasteners by the EU, Taiwanese companies make most of the chance when the steel price is going down.”

Huang foresees Taiwan fastener manufacturers adopting aggressive marketing and price-cutting where Chinese companies are force to step out.

Because Taiwan’s domestic market is small and fastener products are export oriented, Taiwan stands to gain from a regional ASEAN reduction in tariffs by governments in the region, Huang wrote. ©2009 FastenerNews.com and Fastener World