Asia Fastener Imports Growing Along with Exports
Asia Fastener Imports Growing Along with Exports
Jason Sandefur
Editor’s Note: The following column is presented by Taiwan-based Fastener World magazine as part of a news column exchange with FIN.
The fastener industry in Asia continues to see steady growth, both exports and imports. Fastener exports from Japan jumped 12.1% to 137,822 tons during the first six months of 2007. This follows a 6.7% increase in exports to 253,702 during 2006.
Japan also saw demand rise for fastener imports. The country imported 112,741 tons of fasteners during the first half of 2007, which represents a 25.3% increase. Fastener imports during 2006 grew 7.7% to 195,918 tons, while the value grew 25% to 67.08 billion yen.
Fastener exports from Taiwan dipped 2.8% to 813,000 tons during the first six months of 2007, as more Taiwan fastener companies outsource to lower-labor countries. But the six-month export value improved to US$1.9 billion as manufacturers switched to “value-added” products.
Over the last decade, Taiwan fastener exports have grown 150% to 1.26 million tons, while the value nearly doubled to US$2.52 billion. The U.S. continues to be Taiwan’s biggest export market, consuming more than 50% of Taiwan fastener production since 1996.
China produced 4.6 million tons of fasteners during 2006, an 18% increase over the previous year. Fastener exports climbed 37% to 2.07 million tons, with the value rising 32% to US$2.4 billion during 2006.
Conversely, China imported 159,500 tons of fasteners last year, an 18% increase over 2005. The import value climbed 15.2% to US$1.47 billion.
Korea fastener exports grew slowly to US$128.1 million during the first half of 2007, with US$37.2 million worth of fasteners shipped to the U.S.
Fastener imports are also growing in Korea. The country imported 54,792 tons of fastener products during the first six months of 2007, and a total of 66,145 tons during 2006.
For more information on the fastener industry in Asia, see the upcoming issue of FIN. �FastenerNews.com and Fastener World
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment