Current Global Situation of Hand Tool Industry

Hand tools, different from power tools, are mainly tools that are twisted or applied by hand.

Hand Tool Product Category

1. Classified by Application
Hand tools can be divided into wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, tape measures, hammers, sockets, cuttings, scissors, sets, and auxiliary tools such as tool carts, etc.. Each category has different models.

2. Classified by its Quality and Performance
(1) Civil grade
Also known as "DIY", it refers to some sets of tools used for home decoration and home improvement maintenance by yourself, such as sawing plywood for door locks, pliers, knives, scissors, rulers, saws for installing water and electricity , screwdriver, etc. Therefore, the quality requirements of civil grade tools are generally very low. They are cheap, affordable, and convenient for home use. At present, they are relatively popular and many sets of tools used as gifts belong to this category.

(2) Standard grade
Also known as ordinary grade, is generally made of medium carbon steel and properly heat-treated. Its strength and rigidity are better than that of civilian grade, and it can basically meet the professional level of installation and maintenance of building decoration, home appliances and general small electrical machinery.

(3) Professional grade 
It refers to tools and special tools with higher quality grades and more specific scope of use. Generally, the selected materials are made of alloy tool steels such as high carbon steel and chrome vanadium steel and then heat treated. They have good torsional strength, High hardness, such as auto maintenance tools, electronic telecommunication tools, etc. Most of the hand tools sold by FIXMAN are made of chrome vanadium steel, which can help you complete the current task faster. Click here to view FIXMAN's hand tools products.

(4) Industrial grade, 
The materials selected for this level of tools are all made of chromium-vanadium steel, Taiwan S2 material, chromium-molybdenum steel, chromium-nickel-molybdenum-vanadium and other alloy steels. A class of tools.

(5) Aerospace grade, which is the highest-level tool, used in aerospace, submarine nuclear power, military industry and other aspects.

The Development of My Country's Hand Tool Industry

(1) Development status of hand tool industry
Hand tools are labor-intensive industries. China has always been a gathering place for hand tool manufacturing by virtue of our low-cost traditional competitive advantage, and our products are exported to all continents around the world.
The production areas of hand tools in our country are mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong, among which Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong are the most prominent, forming a hand tool industry cluster with the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta as the main production belts.
There are many enterprises producing hand tool products in our country, and the following industry characteristics have been formed after years of development: 
First, the products produced by enterprises are of high quality and low price; 

Second, the concentration of domestic hand tools industry is relatively low, and large and medium-sized enterprises are relatively few.
Third, most of the domestic enterprises are OEM and OEM for high-end European and American companies, and their competitive advantages are not obvious. 
Fourth, the product structure is unreasonable, the output of medium and low-grade varieties is excessive, and there is a gap between supply and demand for high-end varieties;
Fifth, the homogeneity is serious, mainly in the aspect of appearance, and it is easy to cause infringement problems.

(2) Brand characteristics of hand tools
There are many brand enterprises producing hand tools in my country, mainly showing the following two characteristics: 
First, there are few domestic brand enterprises; 
Second, there are many foreign brand enterprises, especially European and American high-end brand enterprises occupy an absolute advantage in my country's export brand enterprises.

Analysis of Key Markets - Main Export Markets

(1) Unique American market
1. Basic overview of the US market
According to my country's customs statistics, the United States is currently the largest exporter of hand tools in our country, and it is also the country with the largest trade surplus.
The main reasons for the broad market of hand tools in the United States are:
First, the United States owns the world's largest hardware and building materials market and has numerous well-known building materials supermarkets. The main building materials supermarkets include Homedepot, Lowe's, HARBORFREIGHT TOOLS (CPI), and Tractor Supply Company (TSC);

Second. The United States is a country on wheels, with the highest car penetration rate in the world and the largest single car market in the world. The U.S. auto aftermarket is extremely developed. It not only sells auto parts, related auto repair tools, and maintenance products, therefore The United States has a large auto repair and auto maintenance hand tools market, and the four giants in the U.S. auto aftermarket are Autozone, Advacne, O'Reilly, and NAPA;

Third, the American audience has a broad market, and Americans have strong hands-on ability. The audience market for hand tools includes not only professional workers, but also ordinary families.

2. The US Market under the Sino-US Trade Friction
Exports to the United States fell sharply year-on-year, and exports fluctuated significantly. In the past two years, Sino-US trade frictions have continued. Since the United States launched the "Section 301" investigation against my country, especially in May 2019, the US government announced that the tariff rate on US$200 billion of listed goods imported from China has been increased from 10% to 10%. Since 25%, China's export of hand tools to the United States has shown a relatively large fluctuation. In 2019, China's total export of hand tools to the United States was 2,045,956,100 US dollars, a decrease of US $ 278,068,300 compared with the previous year, and exports fell by 12.00% year-on-year, which was the first time in 2017-2019. There was a year-on-year decline in exports.

(2) The German market, which ranks first in the "15 EU countries"
Germany has always been the main exporter of hand tool products in my country. In 2019, the export volume ranked second in my country's main export market. From 2015 to 2019, the total export volume of China to Germany was stable and showed a continuous growth trend. In 2019, exports to Germany reached 322.411 million US dollars, an increase of 11% year-on-year.
Since the Sino-US trade friction, especially since the US has increased the 25% tariff, the price advantage of some products in China has been relatively weakened. There are many uncertain factors in US trade. Although the state has increased its support for the industry, the export tax rebate has been increased to 13%, but the increase in tax rebate is not enough to cope with the increase in US tariffs. Therefore, some export-oriented enterprises may choose other export markets. Europe, which is also a high-end market for hand tools, may become the choice of some manufacturers.
According to statistics, from 2015 to 2019, Germany was the main export market for hand tools in my country, and the export price was relatively stable. At the same time, the US imposed tariffs on the EU market to a certain extent, which promoted the trade between China, Germany and the entire EU member states.

(3) Countries along “Belt and Road Initiative” with steady and sustained export growth
According to my country's customs statistics, from 2015 to 2019, the total export value of my country's hand tools exported to countries along the " Belt and Road Initiative" continued to increase for five consecutive years, and the total export value in 2019 was nearly 3 billion US dollars. Among them, India's total exports in 2019 were US$315.909 million, ranking first among countries along the " Belt and Road Initiative".

There are many countries along the " Belt and Road Initiative", with a large population base, and most of them are developing countries. The growing industrial market in these countries will stimulate the demand for professional tool kits by professionals. It will also stimulate the demand for hand tools in the field of auto repair and maintenance. It is expected that the market in countries along the “Belt and Road Initiative” will continue to expand in the future.