Garden Tool Exports Stay Flat;

Mainland China Poses Threat

ith nearly 30 years of operations in the manufacturing and exporting of garden tools and other hand tools, Geon Hung Enterprise Co., Ltd., located in Taichung county, central Taiwan, did not register growth in export in the first three quarters of 2004.

Sales Manager Emily Shih attributed the flat export to late placements of orders by foreign buyers. "Nevertheless, we had a better performance in export in 2003 than the year before," the sales manager added.

Europe is the biggest export destination for the garden tools offered by Geon Hung Enterprise, accounting for 60 percent of its overseas shipment. Ms. Shih said the remaining 40 percent are taken by North America and Asia, including Japan.

A new secateurs, the key item of the company's garden tools, has been released not long ago. The sales manager said the new secateurs, with lever compound mechanism, and made of plastics and carbon steel, is economical in manpower and comes with striking design.

Geon Hung Enterprise is a company that pays close attention to research and development, according to the sales manager. "Our designs are very different from our competitors and we are pursuing top quality," Ms. Shih said.

She noted that although mainland China offers lower prices, it poses no threat to Geon Hung Enterprise. "The reason is that our quality is superior and our niche market is different from theirs," Ms. Shih added.

While participating in the GAFA show in Cologne, the company visits other related shows, such as the hardware fair in Las Vegas.

Price slashing

A trading company in central Taiwan, Cheng Yeang Enterprise has been exporting garden tools for more than 10 years. Orders mainly come from Thailand and Malaysia.

When asked why he did not export to Europe and the United States, the president, Mark Liu, said, "European and U.S. buyers are fond of slashing prices, resulting in little or no profits at all." Liu continued. "Secondly, the U.S. and European markets have been firmly taken by our counterparts, making our entry into these markets difficult."

In addition to garden tools, the company also offers other hand tools for export.

The recent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollars makes the difficult export scenario even worse, Mark Liu added. "Facing these difficult situation, how can we make profit from exports?" Liu asked. The president said he has no intention to develop the Middle Eastern market which is dominated by low-priced items from mainland China.

Liu admitted that exports of garden tools in the first nine months of 2004 remained flat compared with the corresponding period of a year earlier.