lock

China produces an overwhelming 2 billion mechanical door locks annually, more than half of which are shipped overseas. The country exported close to US$713 million worth of mechanical door locks in the 11 months to November 2004, which is 36 percent higher than shipments in the same time frame in 2003. Exports are largely OEM-driven, with business from industry giants such as Hampton Products Int'l Corp. (United States), Viro (Italy), Innohaus (Southeast Asia) and Union (United Kingdom), accounting for as much as 80 percent of total outbound shipments. This situation is not about to change in the next five years as makers are benefiting largely from OEM partnerships, gaining the much needed technological advancements that will allow them to automate production processes in the future.