Woodworking machinery association to be set up in Taiwan by year-end

Taipei, September 17, 2003 (CENS)--Following several years of promotion by domestic manufacturers, the Taiwan Association of Woodworking Machinery Industry will be established by the end of this year, according to Bill Hung, chairman of Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Development Association.

Hung is also president of Boarke Machinery Co., Ltd. And newly-elected coordinator of the Woodworking Machinery Committee under the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry.

Hung said the Ministry of the Interior has recently ratified the establishment of the proposed woodworking industry association. He said the proposed association would help domestic woodworking machinery manufacturers boost international competitiveness by promoting strategic alliances among member firms and integrating their research, development and marketing efforts.

The production value of Taiwan's woodworking machinery industry has been growing over the past few years despite the economic slowdown. In 2002, Taiwan was the world's fourth largest producer of woodworking machinery in terms of production value.

Taiwan currently has some 300 makers of woodworking machines, with 87% of them located in central Taiwan. The industry turned out NT$22.9 billion (US$671.55 million at US$1:NT$34.1) worth of products last year, up 22% from 2001.

Headquartered in Shenkang Hsiang, Taichung County, Boarke was founded 16 years ago and now focuses on the production of automatic wide-belt sanders, sanding equipment, lacquered sander, and wide-belt planer sander, among others. The company currently exports over 90% of its total output, mainly to mainland China, North America and Southeast Asia. The firm anticipated to garner over NT$200 million (US$5.86 million) in sales revenue this year, compared with last year's NT$160 million (US$4.69 million).

Hung said Taiwan's woodworking machinery industry has been steadily growing over the past few decades as the strong support from the highly flexible satellite processing system has allowed manufacturers to turn out high-precision products at reasonable prices. In recent years, local woodworking machinery manufacturers have encountered tough competition in Southeast Asian nations because the manufacturers there have begun production of conventional and simple woodworking machines.

Taiwan's manufacturers are also facing intense competition from mainland China and such industrialized nations as Germany and Italy. With the government supports, mainland Chinese makers of woodworking machines have boosted their ability to develop diverse products, while German and Italian makers have adopted low-price strategy to retain their market shares.

In such a difficult operating environment, the development of the local woodworking machinery industry is polarized. Some firms are concentrating on mass production of large-sized and computerized models, while some are speeding up the development of high-precision, high-value-added products. For instance, Anderson Industrial Corp., one of Taiwan's leading producers of woodworking machines, is increasing production of computerized models and printed circuit board (PCB) drilling machines, while Boarke is focusing on the production of computerized planers.