The year of 2008 was extraordinary, full of unexpectedness. When people were still skittish from the nightmare of inflation, fueled by soaring gasoline and commodity prices. And here came the so-called ¡§financial crisis¡¨ and economic recession. Recent gloomy outlook for the world labor markets has figured into more caution on the part of consumers. Winter comes. The snow-capped mountains show no sign for melting, spring seems still far behind. So far, no glimmer of light can be seen in a long tunnel. The only certain thing for the future is uncertainty. According to the survey by The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), US homeowner improvement spending slides at an annual rate of 12% by the second quarter of 2009. Reducing home prices and payroll reduction hasten the spending declines on home improvements.
Smart Locks, Intelligent Fasteners
Up-and-coming locking system that permits being accessed only by authorized persons enables work-facilitating functions, expanding from data exchange and import via clipboard or from CSV data files up to extended job management. The system allows a direct allocation of the cylinders and keys to orders and furthermore integrates a limited customer database. User-friendly features include extended search and sorting function, the problem-free entry of one-key multiple locking operation, and an easy scaling function for the locking system printout.
Fasteners are improved with ease-of-use, self-locking and self-sealing functions. The new generation of fasteners provide greater strength and reliability, achieved by reduced product weight, heightened joint strength, better resistance to vibration, temperature extremes, axial-torsion loading and less material fatigue. Lately, there is a new look in fastener family called flexible fastener. It looks like a normal bolt or screw, except the shank is composed of a flexible material such as nylon or steel cable, which allows the bolt to bend or flex laterally, yet not stretch axially. The fastener can be used to secure surfaces various types of surfaces either non-parallel or non-aligned where compliance is needed, owing to production or construction errors.
Industrial Fastener Market Snapshot
According to the latest survey, world demand for industrial fasteners will grow 4.8% yearly to $66 Billion in 2012. Fastener demand will be fueled by increases in world economic output, fixed investment activity, manufacturing production, and aerospace equipment and automotive output. Nevertheless, the prevailing uses of new materials and upgraded production methods will slash the number of fasteners required in automobiles and some aircrafts. The demand growths in emerging economies such as Asia, the Africa, Middle East region, Eastern Europe and Latin America will exceed those in the US, Western Europe and Japan. Among all emerging economies, triggered by the recent US$586 billion stimulus plan, China will post the biggest gains as the country continues to heavily invest on domestic infrastructure construction and stimulate domestic demands. By the statistics, China's fastener industry has risen at an average rate of over 25% for consecutive years. In 2009, China is expected to surpass Japan as the second largest fastener market in the world, after the US. These years, China's fastener enterprises expand rapidly as we¡¦re seeing their collective market share steadily growing. However, such a fast expansion has met with a tough challenge. Couple months ago, EU decided to impose up to 87% anti-dumping duties on China fastener products, which worsens a trade dispute between China and EU in fastener industry. EU industry players complaint Chinese exporters get an unfair edge due to suspected subsidies in China's steel industry, which supply them cheap raw materials. According to the official data, 1/3 of the total of 8,000 fastener companies throughout the country has shut down; another 1/3 of which are wrestling with losses and the other 1/3 of which are suffering from shrunk profit margins. The duties will force most of China's enterprises out of the European market, which accounts for one-third of the country¡¦s fastener exports. The severely impacted iron or steel fasteners include wood screws, self-tapping screws, other screws and bolts with heads and washers.
