China's hardware industry out of the "post-crisis era" usher in the warm spring

For a long time, China's hardware industry is a typical "export-oriented" industry, and exports have always been the "engine" of China's hardware industry. However, the international financial crisis that broke out in late 2008 severely hit the "export engine" of the Chinese hardware industry, causing the hardware industry to enter a dilemma.

With the hard work of 2009, in 2010, the hardware industry's export situation has clearly improved. The Chinese hardware industry is gradually emerging from the “post-crisis era” and ushering in the “second spring” of exports. According to Luo Baihui, secretary-general of the International Mould and Metals and Plastics Industry Suppliers Association, the total import and export of hardware products in 2010 reached USD 74.923 billion, an increase of 30.1% over the same period of 2009. Among them, the total value of exports was 57.51 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 31.4% year-on-year.

In terms of export destinations, Asia was US$187.86 billion, up 27.1% year-on-year; Europe was US$16.898 billion, up 34.1% year-on-year; North America was US$13.568 billion, up 29.2% year-on-year; Africa was US$3.152 billion, up 28.1% year-on-year. Latin America was US$3.5 billion, an increase of 61% year-on-year; Oceania was US$1.607 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%.

The top few countries and regions of export products are still in order: the United States, Japan, Germany, the Russian Federation, Hong Kong, China, and the United Kingdom. Compared with 2009, the following three exporting countries have been added: Greenland, North America; Gaby Islands, Oceania, and the Marquesas Islands. At the same time, compared to 2009, there is no reduction in exporting countries. A total of 226 export countries and regions have been reached.

These data indicate that the export situation of China's hardware products has clearly improved.

In 2010, the total sales of imported tools and domestic tools reached 33 billion yuan, ranking first in the world. China's cutting tools grew by 40% in 2010, and the growth in the first three quarters exceeded 50%. In 2010, the sales of foreign tool companies in China also grew very well.

Tools as an important part of the equipment manufacturing industry and the important process equipment in the cutting process determine the processing efficiency, precision, quality and cost of parts in the manufacturing industry. Talking about the gap with advanced technologies, from the perspective of users, Luo Baihui believes there are two biggest gaps:

First, the product structure of the entire industry is lagging behind. The traditional general-purpose standard tools still account for most of the sales, and sales are very good. There have even been so-called “low-alloy high-speed steel” blades. The low-grade products have been slow to change, and there are also counterfeits. The problem is very serious. In 2010, China's high and low-end sales are all very good. This phenomenon is worth considering.

Second, on the whole, there are still gaps in equipment, technology and services. Although the equipment conditions and technologies of some companies are improving, they still cannot meet the needs of users. I think that the problems are still mainly in service. In terms of solutions, we have shown that the combination of us and users is not good enough. With the premise of "production, study, and research," the word "production, study, and use" and "use" should be mentioned. Modern advanced manufacturing technologies are led by user companies. Users in our country must also take this lead, thus stimulating the development of a large number of material suppliers and machine tool suppliers.

With the fierce competition in the domestic hardware market, the competitors of China's hardware companies will not only be their domestic counterparts, but also the giants of international hardware brands. At the same time, however, we should also see that the internationalization of international brands still has a long way to go. The Chinese market is huge and there will be differences in consumer demand. Differences between China and foreign countries are issues that must be faced when entering the Chinese market.

Hardware products play an indispensable role in our daily life. Judging from future development trends, the global tool market is expected to grow by 3% to 5% over the next five years. At this rate of growth, we are still ranked first in the world. From the perspective of the supply of domestic tools, domestic tools occupy the mainstream position, up to 65%. Over the years, we have also made outstanding companies such as Drilling, and together with the original four major tool factories, there are about 10 key enterprises that have moved from the traditional tools into the modern cutting tool industry and have developed every year. Well, they have entered a period of rapid growth. This is a very good performance.