Asian fastener manufacturing costs rise in 2011

Bruce Darling, vice president of material management at PorteousFastener Corporation in the United States, recently submitted to the West Pacific Fasteners Association’s report on the Asian fastener market in 2011: Steel prices continue to rise, the dollar continues to weaken, and North Africa is in a civil war. European buyers are facing tough choices; the Chinese market – steel and labor costs have gone up, and there are few plant expansions, and power cuts and pollution have become the number one issues. Darling said, "In 2010, Taiwan's development was clearly better than it was in 2009, but it still did not meet expectations."

"The latest round of steel prices has seen a significant increase, with an increase of 9.3%. Industry insiders expect a bigger increase in the future," Darling said. The U.S. dollar is relatively stable at present, but during the period of its weakness, many problems have come immediately. Darling also pointed out that Taiwanese manufacturers have seen an upsurge in the procurement of machines, but most of them are only used for the replacement of existing old machines, and some spare parts forming machines have made Taiwan develop toward non-standard parts. North America is still Taiwan's largest fastener market.

The future development trend of Europe is even more unpredictable. “The Sino-European anti-dumping case has caused some purchasers to turn to Taiwan. In the WTO ruling, the European Union considered this practice to be in violation of the relevant WTO regulations. If China finally wins the anti-dumping case, This part of the buyer will again purchase from mainland China.”

Darling also predicts that Taiwan's fastener purchase prices will likely continue to climb in the next two quarters, and that in the next three quarters, Taiwan's fastener prices will depend on the adjustment of steel prices in the second quarter. “Most people in the industry believe that the price of steel will eventually be lowered.” China Taiwan’s China National Steel Corporation cut its price of 7-8 in late May. Plates and rods and rods remained flat, with the rest being lowered overall. Among them, HRC was lowered by NT$1,754/ton, HRC by 1,419 yuan/ton, electro-galvanized, 1,500 yuan/ton, and electrical steel by 2,600 yuan/ton. Hot-dip galvanized sheet is down 1613 yuan/ton.

“In mainland China, all indications are that the purchase price of fasteners will continue to rise.” The flood disasters in Australia and Brazil caused the price of iron ore to climb. “Some people in the industry once threatened that steel prices will emerge in 2011.” 66% increase.” Darling said, “In response to this, we expect steel prices will continue to increase at a rate of 10% to 15%, and then in the latter part of 2011, there will be an increase of 5% to 8%.”

In addition, China also faces serious power problems. Power cuts have seriously affected the production of steel and fasteners in mainland China. "Pollution is another important issue faced by mainland China's steel and fastener companies. The pollution problem will very likely lead to the halt of production of many steel mills in mainland China, which will lead to a shortage of raw materials and an increase in steel prices." Recently, in mainland China, only There are a few factories in the expansion. Nevertheless, due to the rapid development of high-speed rail, wind power and other industries, the domestic market demand for fasteners will continue to grow. In response, Darling also said, "China's 100% export of fasteners may face a difficult period in the future."