Analysis of Competitiveness of Metal Processing Machines in the World

The trade competitiveness index TC index can reflect the competitiveness of a country’s products in the international market. The closer the index is to 1 The stronger the competitiveness, the equivalent to 1 means that the industry only exports without import; the closer the index is to-1, the weaker the competitiveness is. , equal to -1 means that the industry does not import only exports; equal to 0 means that the competitiveness of the industry is in the middle level. This article will analyze the impact of the financial crisis on the competitiveness of major machine tools through the TC index.

From the perspective of major categories, the machine tools are divided into metal machining machine tools and machine tool accessories, high-end numerical control devices, test equipment, molds, tools, and tools.

In the field of metal processing machine tools, Japan’s trade competitiveness is the strongest. The TC index is basically above 0.8. It has declined in 2009 and has continued to climb. It is currently around 0.9. The financial crisis had little effect on the competitiveness of German metalworking machine tools. In 2009, the TC index reached 0.53. Currently, it remains above 0.5, which is 0.1 point higher than before the crisis. The trade competitiveness of U.S. metalworking machine tools increased after the crisis. The TC index in 2010 was -0.07, but after 2011, the TC index fell again as imports increased significantly. The trade competitiveness of China's metalworking machine tools has been adversely affected by the financial crisis. It has continued to decline since 2009 and is now close to -0.7.

In terms of machine tool accessories, the level of trade competitiveness between Germany and Japan was comparable in 2007, but after the crisis, Germany did not change much, but Japan continued to grow. In 2011, the TC index fell slightly due to the economic downturn, and then it rebounded again. The trade competitiveness of the US machine tool accessories also improved after the crisis, but after 2010, the TC index plummeted due to heavy import demand and has now fallen below zero. In 2008, the TC index of China's machine tool attachment almost reached the boundary of zero, but was affected by the financial crisis and then fell sharply thereafter. In 2011, it reached the lowest point of -0.36. In 2012, it rose slightly, but it was still around -0.3.

In terms of tools, tools and tools, Germany’s trade competitiveness has not changed much. The TC index is basically around 0.35, and after the Japanese crisis reached the highest value of 0.73; the US trade competitiveness has sharply declined after the crisis; China’s TC index has been from 2007. The year's -0.26 rises to 0.02 in 2012, and the trade competitiveness has greatly increased.

In the test equipment, the competitiveness of trade between Germany and Japan has been comparable; in the United States, the TC index has increased after the crisis and has declined in 2010, and is currently stable; the competitiveness of China's test equipment is also gradually increasing. Nearly -0.7 in 2007 rose to -0.5 in 2012.

In terms of high-end numerical control devices, German products have strong trade competitiveness. The TC index is close to 0.7, Japan is about 0.4 and keeps declining; the U.S. trade competitiveness has changed little; and China’s high-end numerical control devices have greatly increased trade competitiveness after the crisis. The TC index rose from -0.3 in 2007 to 0.04 in 2012, and in 2012, exports increased as imports fell.