Under the dual impetus of manufacturing upgrading and the dual-carbon strategy, stainless steel hexagonal screws, as a core category of basic fasteners, have recently shown a development feature of "stable growth and quality improvement". Industry data shows that in 2024, the market size of hexagon socket stainless steel screws in China reached 38.76 billion yuan, increasing by 6.3% year-on-year. The production capacity reached 1.894 million tons, and the supply and demand pattern remained balanced, demonstrating strong industrial resilience.
The new energy and high-end equipment industries have become the core engines driving demand growth. The amount of stainless steel fasteners used in a single new energy vehicle is 15% to 20% higher than that in traditional fuel vehicles. Among them, hexagonal screws, due to their convenient assembly and stable torque, have become the core connecting components of the power system. Meanwhile, the capacity expansion of wind power towers and photovoltaic brackets has driven a sharp increase in the demand for A4-80 grade high-corrosion-resistant screws. Their application share in Marine engineering and chemical equipment fields has risen to 28%, while A2-70 grade products have occupied 62% of the general market due to their cost-performance advantage.
The cluster effect of industries is remarkable, with leading enterprises leading the upgrading. The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta concentrate over 70% of the country's production capacity. The output value of a single area in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, reached 9.68 billion yuan, accounting for 25% of the national total. Through automation transformation, leading companies such as Jinyi Industrial and Zhejiang Dongming have reduced their unit production costs by 4.2%. Their products fully comply with international standards such as ISO898-1 and DIN912. In 2024, the total export value of the entire industry reached 14.86 billion yuan, accounting for 38.3% of the total sales. The export growth rate to countries along the "Belt and Road" such as Vietnam and Germany exceeded 10%.
The industry's development still faces structural challenges. The raw material cost of 304 and 316L stainless steel accounts for 68%. The prices of metals such as nickel and chromium fluctuate greatly due to international supply and demand, which brings pressure to the profits of enterprises. Meanwhile, the competition in the low-end market is highly homogeneous, while customized products in high-end fields such as aerospace and nuclear power still rely on imports. However, the process of domestic substitution has accelerated, and the import value is expected to decline by 2.4% year-on-year in 2024.
Technological innovation has become the key to breaking the deadlock. Leading enterprises are focusing on the research and development of duplex stainless steel materials, promoting advanced processes such as Dacromet coating, and the popularization rate of intelligent production lines is continuously increasing. Looking ahead to 2025, the market size is expected to rise to 41.15 billion yuan. The industry will shift from scale expansion to quality improvement, achieving a transformation from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing" through material innovation and global layout.