Emergency Housing for China’s Earthquake Victims Increasing Fastener Demand

John Wolz

The Sichuan earthquake in China is increasing demand for fasteners for the one million prefabricated emergency houses to be built, Steel Business Briefing reported.

The Chinese government’s color-coated sheet metal emergency housing requires fasteners to assemble.
A source with Yahgee Modular House Co, which has its head office in southern China’s Guangdong province, told Steel Business Briefing that additional demand from Sichuan will influence certain fastener producers involved in the project, but expects the impact on the market as a whole will be limited.

Yahgee was ordered to produce four million sq meters of emergency housing requiring some eight million units of fasteners (equivalent to 800 to 1,600 tons in total).

Most of the bolts, nuts, screws and other items will be sourced from a fastener subsidiary of Shanghai Tianlong Group. Shanghai Tianlong says that fulfilling the order will be its primary focus over the second half of the year, which could result in delaying other orders.

China’s fastener production was estimated at about 5.1 million tons in 2007, according to China Fasteners Association. 2008 FastenerNews.com