Wire & Rod, Screw Prices on Increase

John Wolz

In order to reflect the global price hike of billet material, factories have decided to increase their domestic and export sale prices to reduce cost pressure. The price of annealing wire & rod has been increased to US$10 per metric ton and the price of screws increased to $33 per metric ton.\
Screw and wire rod manufacturer Chun Yu Works & Co. Ltd. reports that prices for screw and wire rod have increased during the first half and that third quarter orders are full.
After 51 years of production Chun Yu is Taiwan’s oldest fastener manufacturer and recently received QS-9000 certification and ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation.
Screw prices are up 14% thus far this year. In May, Chun Yu increased the price of wire rod $10 per metric ton.

Taiwan IFI urges change in product combinations  The Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute is seeking to improve the country’s flat export volume and prices to expand market orders. Measured in dollars, the export volume of Taiwan’s screws totaled 10% of total global consumption. By volume of goods, the exports totaled 17%. These figures indicate that volume and price have not been growing at the same pace, certainly a condition that needs to be improved. At present, Taiwan’s government stresses raising product status, recognizing that changing quality is more important than changing quantity. The industry should rethink the question of the engineering level of its products and product mix to effectively expand international markets.
According to customer export information provided by the China Steel Company, from January to April of this year Taiwan’s screw and nut export volume was 369,000 metric tons.
The U.S. remains the largest export market, totaling 198,600 metric tons. Germany is second at 25,600 metric tons.
However, the highest export average unit price was in Hong Kong. It included the prices of non-threaded screw products and was US$2,133 per metric ton compared with Japan at US$1,453. The lowest was Italy at US$950.

Steel Industry is optimistic about the second half year’s economic conditions  The recent hikes in the U.S. steel market have slowed down, but the European market has kept its upward trend. The Chinese market is the best of all. As long as the global market is prosperous, Taiwan’s steel industry is optimistic about the second half’s economic condition.
The global steel market condition has been showing a multiple price peaks trend for the past two years, and there is no sign that this upward trend will stop. Taiwan’s steel market condition is not weak either.
China Steel Company announced it would increase its third quarter base prices for its steel plate products.
Due to a long-term weakness in the Euro, local export companies have become very competitive. With the help of strong domestic demand, major steel factories in Germany and France have increased their third quarter steel prices. Average prices increased 20 to 25 Euros per metric ton.
Recently China tightened its rules for imported steel material, and the domestic steel price increased accordingly. Local Taiwan businesses encountered an increase in their cost of steel material purchasing. This means that the market price for sheet steel in China is considered good.

Masterfix and Anchor Announce Venture  Netherlands-based Masterfix Products, with subsidiary companies in England, Germany, Poland and Ireland, and Anchor Fasteners of Taiwan announced a cooperative agreement to develop future products.
Anchor manufactures cold forging parts in Taiwan and Ningbo, China.
The goal of the cooperation between the two companies is to create new products rather than copy existing ones.
Editor’s Note: The preceding article is presented by Taiwan-based Fastener World magazine as part of a news column exchange with Fastener Industry News.