Opportunities and Challenges for Chinese Fastener Enterprises in 2023

The EU fastener industry is worth 3.2 billion euros, of which one tenth is imported from China. EU fastener manufacturers are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, employing more than 20000 employees in European countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Sweden, and Spain.

The total import market value of fasteners in the EU reached US $17.6 billion in 2021, an increase of 25.6% compared to US $14 billion in 2021, and the import volume increased by 6%, maintaining stable growth in the past two years; The export of fasteners from the EU increased by 2% between 2020-2021 and reached nearly US $16.7 billion in 2021. According to forecasts, the EU industrial fastener market is expected to maintain growth at a CAGR of over 4% by 2031.

Germany is the largest source of fastener imports within the EU. In 2021, the amount of fasteners imported from Germany into the EU reached 4.4 billion US dollars, accounting for 25% of all fastener imports in the EU. In addition, Germany’s fastener imports from other countries also increased by 3% compared with the record in 2020, of which Chinese Mainland, Taiwan and Italy accounted for 16%, 15% and 11% of Germany’s fastener imports respectively. Germany is also the largest fastener exporter in Europe (with exports of 7.3 billion US dollars in 2021, accounting for 43% of total EU exports). As Germany itself dominates the European manufacturing and fastener industries, its exports to other countries are large. With the end of the epidemic and the recovery of the overseas fastener market, domestic fastener enterprises will also face new opportunities and challenges.

From March 21st to March 23rd, the International Fastener Exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany, was held. Many Chinese fastener enterprises, led by relevant departments, joined forces to participate in the exhibition, bringing new products to the exhibition, attracting many merchants.