Taiwanese bicycle firms in China think of returning home

Yang Yin-ming, chairman of Kenda Rubber Ind. Co., Ltd., atold CENS that an increasing number of Taiwanese bicycle firms in mainland China are talking about renewing production on the island 10 years after moving their production lines to the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Yang said labour and land costs in mainland China are rising rapidly, and growing anti-dumping charges on Chinese exporters is adding to operating risks in the mainland.

Taiwan’s bicycle makers "boast greater advantages in brand, sales channels and production, especially those firms in the A-Team alliance, said CENS.

The A-Team is a market-boosting alliance of Taiwanese bicycle and bike parts suppliers, formed – and largely led by – Tony Lo, president of Giant.

Other key members of the A-Team include Merida and Kenda.

Kenda’s Yang said that his company’s Taiwan HQ still controls the procurement, R&D and finance of the group’s global operation, and its plant on the island still produces higher value-added tyre products, though the firm’s overseas plants (three in mainland China and one in Vietnam) now account for about two-thirds of its total capacity.

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STAY OF EXECUTION?

A number of highly-placed bike trade execs, with good contacts in the Far East, have told BikeBiz.com there are "strong rumours" that there will be a six-month stay of execution on the renewal of anti-dumping tariffs against bicycles produced in Vietnam. This cannot yet be confirmed.