According to the latest "Taiwan Export Analysis from January to December 2023" released by the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan, China's Taiwan fastener exports from January to December 2023 were about 4.6 billion US dollars, down 25% year-on-year from 6.14 billion US dollars in 2022. Hand tools exports amounted to $3.78 billion, down 18% year-on-year from $4.62 billion in 2022. Compared to the 2022 figure, the export margin of both categories decreased, mainly due to the impact of geopolitical conflicts, inflation and slowing economic growth, leading to conservative customer orders, which affected export performance.

However, according to the ITA released another "International Economic and Trade situation Analysis Report from January to December 2023", S&P Global forecast that the global import and export growth rate in 2024 will turn positive, respectively, 5.4% and 6.7%, of which China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan and other major Asian countries the growth trend is more obvious, more than 5%. In terms of metal prices, due to the gradual realization of the production reduction benefits of steel mills in the United States and Europe, coupled with the rise in steel prices in Europe and the United States, the Asian steel market is picking up, and steel prices are expected to rebound from the fourth quarter of 2023.