In the hardware market, developed countries in Europe and the USA, due to the rapid development of production technology and rising labour prices, have transferred universal products to developing countries, producing only high value-added products themselves.

China, in turn, has a strong market potential and is therefore more favourable to its development as a major hardware processing and exporting country. The hardware market in China is mainly located in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangdong and Shandong, among which Zhejiang and Guangdong are the most prominent.

According to the relevant survey data, in terms of individual hand tool product categories, sockets are the bulk of exports, hand tool combinations rank second, gardening tools rank third, spanner category rank fourth and pliers rank fifth.

In terms of exporting countries, the USA ranked first, followed by the UK, Germany and Japan in that order.

In the hand tool market, the demand for hand tools in the US market has stabilised. While the size of new homes in the housing market has increased in the US, there are still a large number of existing homes, which are unoccupied and present a large market opportunity for home renovation.

The increasing average model and age of motor vehicles is contributing to hand tool sales in the automotive aftermarket.

Forged tools for the distribution of electronic products are in strong demand, especially adjustable spanners. Increased demand for hand tools in Germany, where comfortable and labour-saving tools are most popular.