Faced with trade barriers, how will China's fastener industry develop in the future?

The beginning of the development of fasteners in China

Prior to this, global fastener demand was mainly distributed in North America, Europe and Asia. As the level of manufacturing technology in Asia gradually increases, and labor costs are relatively low, the global division of labor in the fastener industry is changing. While North America and Europe are exporting high-end fasteners to Asia, they are shifting high-end fastener production to Asia. As the largest fastener manufacturer in the world, China has nearly 10,000 domestic production and trading companies, contributing more than 1 million jobs.

From the perspective of the concentration of fastener companies in the region, Guangdong's fastener enterprises are scattered in regions and across administrative regions, and cannot form a large base for a single regional enterprise. Wenzhou has 3,000 fastener manufacturers. There are 1,500 fasteners produced in Haiyan, and more than 3,000 fasteners produced in Yongnian. The fastener manufacturers in these three places did not cross administrative areas and concentrated most in a single administrative jurisdiction.

China's fasteners encounter trade barriers

It is estimated that by 2010, the total output of fasteners in China will reach more than 6 million tons, and the export target will be 3 million tons, which will become a truly “world factory” for fasteners. As the development of the fastener industry in China is increasingly subject to international trade barriers, China's fastener industry is in a state of “ten ambush”.

Turning over the history of disputes in fasteners in international trade, it was discovered that as early as November 9, 2007, our country suffered from anti-dumping rods from the EU against my fasteners. In 2009 alone, domestic fasteners suffered three trade remedies.

On January 31, 2009, the EU imposed a formal anti-dumping tax of up to 87% on anti-dumping measures against fasteners. On March 26 of the same year, the U.S. ruled that the fastener dumping margin in China was 55.16% to 206%. Three months later, the United States once again filed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints against standard steel fasteners originating in the Mainland of China and Taiwan, and imposed anti-dumping duties of 66.87%-205.97%.

Future development of fasteners

Domestic fastener companies should gradually reduce the proportion of ordinary fasteners, increase the production of high-margin high-strength fasteners to meet market demand. According to China's “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” railway development plan and investment plan, from 2008 to 2010 there will be an average annual investment of 350 billion yuan, which will ensure that in the next two years, the compound annual growth rate of railway investment is about 20%. If we consider that the country is increasing its investment in the railway industry to ensure stable economic growth, the investment growth rate of the railway industry will further increase. It is expected that the growth of the railway industry will not be lower than 25% in the next 2-3 years. Great protection. The guaranteed growth of rail transit will undoubtedly lead to a relative increase in the growth of the fastener industry. The guaranteed growth of the entire industry does not mean that all fastener companies can enjoy their food and clothing. In order to meet the needs of industry growth, domestic fastener companies have actively adjusted the product structure, gradually reduced the output of ordinary fasteners, gradually increased the proportion of high-strength fasteners, and achieved strategic transformation.

Domestic and foreign markets must both take into account, then in the face of trade barriers, how can fasteners effectively expand the way in the foreign market? There are 3 types of channels:

First, the exhibition

In addition to the traditional Canton Fair, more manufacturers tend to attend professional exhibitions abroad, such as the Las Vegas Screw Show in the United States, the World Hardware Fair in Cologne, Germany, the Stuttgart Fastener Fair, the Russian Hardware Fair, and the Dubai Hardware Fair. Spain Hardware Show, etc. Participating in the exhibition is undoubtedly the most direct and effective way to meet and negotiate with customers. Judging from the experience of Taiwanese companies, Taiwan’s screw industry manufacturers have gone out earlier, which is also a very important reason for the outstanding performance of export sales. At present, these foreign exhibitions have offices or exhibition companies in China. In addition to comparison of prices and travel services, manufacturers can also visit the factories or sales companies abroad to participate in the exhibition through the participating organizations. Understanding of overseas markets, in-depth understanding of customer characteristics and business models. It is very difficult for general exhibition companies to provide such services. However, this is very valuable.

At the same time, for exhibitors, domestic manufacturers have a feature that needs to be avoided, that is, products do not have features, and they hope to put all products on the booth. However, in reality, it may not be possible to impress customers in a short period of time. . Therefore, for foreign exhibitors, fastener companies still have to work hard at the exhibition, highlight key points, be concise and effective, and spend money on cutting edge.

Second, foreign sales magazine

In Taiwan, Huida's "Screw World" can be said that the role of Taiwan's screw industry in opening up the export market must not be underestimated. Why do you say that? Because even if the manufacturers have direct foreign participation in the planning, but the general annual foreign companies will only go to 1-2 major exhibitions, after all, the exhibitors need booths and travel costs are relatively high, so for companies, the show's budget is limited. However, an export magazine can cover more professional exhibitions around the world. For fastener manufacturers, export magazines are a good match for the show. Especially for some foreign markets, it is not worthwhile to go to the exhibition, but when there is a demand for opening up, export magazines are a very important choice. Currently on the mainland, "Chinese Screws" published by Shangsou Corporation is the only foreign magazine for the mainland fastener industry. It is issued twice a year and 10,000 copies per issue. It participates in more than 8 international exhibitions, and domestically includes some of Taiwan's Manufacturers have chosen this approach to open up the export market, such as: Taiwan Hengzhao, Chunyu, Ningbo Jinding, Zhonglian, Qunli, Wuxi Anshida, Zhejiang Minmetals, Mengyi, Wenzhou Tianxiang, Pioneer, Haiyan Yuxing, Jinan TEDA, Hangzhou Delan, Olympic Exhibition, Suzhou Rongzheng, Dongtai Daidong, Shanghai Ruihe, Odakko, VFX, etc.;

Third, the Internet

The application of the Internet in the B2B industry can be said to begin with exporting. Because, for buyers and sellers separated by thousands of miles, the network has no borders, which greatly facilitates the international trade through the website to find suppliers and customers, inquiries, quotes, and sample designs. Nowadays, it is almost unthinkable for companies exporting to say that they have no e-mail or no Internet access.

For the expansion of the fastener industry, how to use the Internet? First of all, of course, it is necessary to have a company website of its own. Many companies on the export website are just English versions of Chinese. This is not the best practice. Because, for the browsing habits of foreign customers, a more simple and effective web page is the most practical. On the contrary, too many FLASH and features will make customers feel puzzled. For servers in the country, browsing speed is also foreign. To be considered.