Transformation and Upgrading Fast Growth of Fastener Exports in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province

"By benefiting from the continued recovery of the world economy and the steady development of the domestic economy, coupled with the low base in the same period of 2009, the export of fastener products in Jiaxing City achieved rapid growth in 2010." Fastener import and export enterprises in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province Zhang Feng, deputy secretary general of the association, said. He disclosed to the China Industry News reporter that from January to December 2010, the total import and export of fasteners in Jiaxing City reached 80.152 million US dollars, an increase of 51.44% year-on-year, of which exports accounted for 77.995 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 51.80%, and imports were 21.57 million US dollars. The year-on-year increase was 29.18%.

The unit price of exports continued to rise. Zhang Feng explained to reporters in detail the main features of fastener exports in Jiaxing last year. First, exports resumed rapid growth. In Jiaxing, Jiaxing exported 779.95 million US dollars of fastener products, accounting for 48.67% of the export value of fastener products in Zhejiang Province. Among them, steel fastener products exported 77.537 million US dollars, an increase of 51.55%; copper fastener products exported 3.65 million US dollars, an increase of 130.04%; aluminum fastener products exported 930,000 US dollars, an increase of 57.03%. "All kinds of fastener products have achieved rapid growth, but there is still a certain distance compared with the export value of 98.136 million US dollars in 2008," he said.

Second, the United States and Europe are still the main export markets, but their share has declined slightly. In 2010, fastener products exported to the United States amounted to US$162.4 million, an increase of 28.39% year-on-year, and exports to the EU were US$172.34 million, which represented a year-on-year increase of 72.33%. The total exports to the US and Europe accounted for 42.92% of its total fastener exports. In 2009, the US and European markets accounted for 44.12% of the total market share, which accounted for a decrease of 1.2 percentage points.

Third, the degree of diversification in the export market has further increased. “In the traditional market, while maintaining stable growth, the trade volume of emerging countries and regions is growing at a rapid rate.” Zhang Feng cited examples of fasteners exported to ASEAN, Russia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Ukraine, Chile and other emerging countries in 2010. The market was US$212.12 million, accounting for 27.20% of the total export of fastener products, which was an increase of 62.00%, 149.26%, 214.41%, 119.56%, 95.96%, 154.32%, and 163.01% year-on-year, far higher than the 51.80% of fasteners in Jiaxing City. The increase in exports.

Fourth, the unit price of exports continued to rise. In 2010, the average unit price of fastener products exported from the city was US$1,194/ton, an increase of 9.04% year-on-year. Among them, the average unit price for steel, copper, and aluminum fasteners was 1,188 US$/ton, 8,449 USD/ton, and 2,228 USD/ton, respectively, an increase of 8.89%, 39.58%, and 7.01% year-on-year. Fifth, the number of large exporters has grown faster. It is understood that in Jiaxing last year, fasteners exported more than US$10 million worth of companies, an increase of 23.08% year-on-year, and nine companies exported more than US$20 million, an increase of 80% year-on-year. The total export value of these 16 export giants was 39,231 million US dollars, accounting for 50.30% of the city's total exports.

The transformation and upgrading are effective. According to Zhang Feng, the global economic recovery is the main driving force for the rapid growth of Jiaxing fasteners exports. Since 2010, consumption and investment in major developed countries have gradually recovered. The EU debt problem and the huge fiscal deficits of some countries are generally within a controllable range. “Although the fastener industry is faced with trade remedy measures adopted by many countries, especially the high anti-dumping duties levied by the European Union on China, the export of fasteners to the EU grew by 72.33% year-on-year in 2010, and the EU once again surpassed the United States as Jiaxing. The city's largest export market for fasteners.” In addition, rapid export growth also benefits from emerging markets such as the BRIC countries, which have strong growth in demand. Widely used in a variety of machinery, equipment, vehicles, ships, railways, bridges, construction and other fastener products, is catering to its exuberant demand. At the same time, in response to the financial crisis, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policy measures to support the development of foreign trade, including improving the corporate financing environment, improving export credit insurance, improving the level of trade facilitation, and expanding the pilot of RMB settlement for cross-border trade. This has provided support for improving the business environment of the company and maintaining its international competitiveness, which has greatly stimulated the rapid growth of the export of fastener products in Jiaxing.

Responding to frequent reports of international trade relief surveys has also provided confidence for the fastener companies to resume production. Following the success of China's fastener industry in responding to the United States' "double reverse" investigation on fasteners in China in 2009, the fastener industry responded to international trade frictions in 2010 again: June 28, 2010, the Ministry of Commerce announced to the European Union. Imported fastener products are taxed; on August 10th, the WTO preliminary ruling that the EU levied high anti-dumping duties on fastener products in China was illegal; on December 3, the WTO once again ruled that the EU imposed anti-dumping duties on China's fasteners. Practices violate WTO regulations.

In addition, the company has actively transformed and upgraded and added value to its fastener products. “In 2010, transformation and upgrading became the mainstream of the development of the industry. Fastener companies in Jiaxing kept pace with the times and carried out industrial integration according to their respective characteristics.” Zhang Feng said that if Jinyi Industrial Co., Ltd. relied on the construction of high-speed railways, the investment Huge investment in the development of high-speed rail fastener technology and the development of new fasteners for high-speed rail. At present, the company has become a high-speed fastener production base. Another example is that Zhejiang Qifeng Hardware Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang New Oriental Fasteners Co., Ltd. have all set up railway product R&D centers and obtained the railway product procurement access certificate issued by the Shanghai Railway Bureau.

Looking forward to many challenges in 2011 Looking forward to 2011, Zhang Feng believes that overall fastener exports in Jiaxing will continue to improve, but it also faces many challenges. First, the foundation for the recovery of the world economy is still not stable, and the prices of major raw materials have been rising all the way. It is understood that in 2010, the domestic iron ore market was changed from a long one-year price to a quarterly price, and a more flexible pricing mechanism made domestic iron ore spot prices increasingly elusive. Domestic iron ore prices have been advancing rapidly, with an increase of more than 50%. According to the prediction of China Steel Net, in 2011, the tight supply of domestic iron ore will gradually ease, and the price will show a trend of falling after a sharp increase, but the price will continue to surge at the beginning of the year.

Second, labor costs continue to increase. “The large labor shortage, especially the shortage of skilled workers, is a major problem faced by the fastener companies in the city.” Zhang Feng said that because the fastener industry is a labor-intensive industry, the local workforce can’t fully meet the needs of the factory's start-up work. The mobility of people is strong. In order to retain the employees, the company has to increase the staff's welfare while also increasing the training costs for the employees.

Second, trade protectionism has intensified. On the one hand, due to the lack of global economic recovery, it is difficult to effectively recover international market demand in the short term. On the other hand, Europe and the United States and other countries have put forward strategies such as “reinvigorate the real economy” and “industry return”, which have made the market competition more fierce. “As far as the fastener industry is concerned, since 2004, the fastener industry has encountered 14 trade remedy investigations initiated by seven countries and regions including the European Union, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey. Exports of fastener products are hampered.” said Zhang Feng.

1. The global economic recovery is the main driving force for the rapid growth of fasteners' exports. Since 2010, consumption and investment in major developed countries have gradually recovered. The EU debt problem and the huge fiscal deficits of some countries are generally within a controllable range. Therefore, although the fastener industry is faced with trade remedy measures that have been avoided, especially the EU imposes a high anti-dumping tax on me, the export of fasteners to the EU in the year 2010 increased by 72.33% year-on-year. The EU once again surpassed the United States as a fastener. The largest market for exports.

2. Strong growth in domestic demand in emerging markets and strong demand for fasteners. Since the financial crisis, emerging markets such as the BRIC countries have been the leader in global economic recovery and have become an important engine for global economic growth. This is mainly due to the strong domestic demand growth in these countries and regions. Fastener products are widely used in various machinery, equipment, vehicles, ships, railways, bridges, buildings, etc., and they are meeting the internal needs of these markets.

3. Stabilize foreign demand policies to play an active role. In response to the financial crisis, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policy measures to support the development of foreign trade, including improving the corporate financing environment, improving export credit insurance, and improving the level of trade facilitation. At the same time, the pilot program for RMB settlement in cross-border trade was expanded to extend the pilots to 20 provinces and cities, and to expand the offshore regions for cross-border trade settlement to all countries and regions. These policies and measures have provided better support for improving the business environment of the company and maintaining the international competitiveness of the company, which has effectively stimulated the rapid growth of the export of fastener products.

4. Respond to international trade relief surveys frequently reported that the fastener companies have regained confidence in restoring production. Following the success of the fastener industry in the United States in response to the United States' investigation of my fastener 'double reverse' in 2009, the fastener industry responded to international trade frictions again in 2010 and gained confidence in the industry's exports. On June 28, 2010, the Ministry of Commerce announced the taxation of imported fastener products from the EU; on August 10th, the WTO preliminary ruling that the EU levied high anti-dumping duties on fastener products was illegal, and on December 3, WTO It was once again ruled that the EU's application of anti-dumping tariffs on my fasteners violated WTO regulations. From the newsletter, fastener companies are all excited.

5. Transformation and upgrading will increase the added value of fastener products. In 2010, transformation and upgrading became the mainstream. Fastener companies conformed to the trend, kept pace with the times, and carried out industrial integration according to the characteristics of their respective companies. Such as Jinyi Industrial Co., Ltd. relying on high-speed railway construction, invested heavily in research and development of high-speed rail fastener technology, and developed new fasteners for high-speed rail. At present, Jinyi Company has become a high-speed fastener production base. Another example is that Zhejiang Qifeng Hardware Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang New Oriental Fasteners Co., Ltd. have all set up railway product R&D centers and obtained the railway product procurement access certificate issued by the Shanghai Railway Bureau.