GOVERNMENTS/ASSOCIATIONS/FASTENER GROUPS 

According to Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute (TIFI) Chairman Tu-Chin Tsai, the export of Taiwanese fastener industry has been in a continuous decline since the end of 2018 and the industry may not appear good conditions until the second quarter of 2020. He pointed out, that the influence of U.S.-China trade war seems to continue and that Taiwanese fastener suppliers have to face the price-cutting competition from Chinese suppliers and is currently excluded from certain regional trade organizations such as ASEAN and CPTPP. He also added, that most of the orders USA originally made out to China were switched to Vietnam and Malaysia, as a result, although Taiwanese suppliers have technology, quality and lead times better than those in other countries, they still cannot compete with those enjoying lower priced materials and exchange rates. Chairman Tsai called upon Taiwan’s CSC to think twice when they discussed the price adjustments for the fourth quarter this year. Taiwan CSC later responded with positive feedback, determining that the domestic sales prices for wire rod, hot/cold rolled products would remain unchanged for the 4th quarter this year.