Comments Off on 25th International Bicycle Design Competition calls for entries
Applications are open until November 15 2023, with plenty of e-bike designs awarded in past years. With a focus on intelligence and sustainability as recent industrial trends, the 25th IBDC’s theme is “Intelligence．Sustainability．Cool Lifestyle,” aiming to inspire innovative, intelligent, and sustainable bicycle designs.
The International Bicycle Design Competition (IBDC), established in 1996, is organized by the Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center (CHC) with support from the Department of Industrial Technology, Ministry of Economic Affairs of R.O.C. (DOIT, MOEA). IBDC serves as a global platform for creative bicycle concepts and designs, fostering international collaboration among designers to elevate the standard of cycling design worldwide.
The award ceremony takes place at the Taipei Int’l Cycle Show, Asia’s largest cycling event, attracting thousands of visitors and industry professionals from over 30 countries. Winners receive cash prizes, and certificates, and their designs are showcased in print and digital formats during the show, providing valuable publicity. Additionally, winning entries may connect with bicycle manufacturers for potential production opportunities. Authorized use of the IBDC logo for promotion is granted to awardees, and they can also apply for the Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2024 with an automatic entry qualification if they receive a gold, silver, or bronze award in the 25th IBDC.
Comments Off on LEVA-EU Presentation: Effect E-Bike Dumping on Taiwan
In the framework of the online Taipei Cycle Show, LEVA-EU has contributed to the 2021 Smart Sport and Smart Cycling Forum. In an online presentation, LEVA-EU manager, Annick Roetynck, explained the effects of the EU dumping measures against e-bikes from China on Taiwan.
This afternoon session included 6 presentations in total. Other contributors were among others Accell CEO, Ton Anbeek, Executive Vice President of Specialized Bicycle Component, Robert Margevicius and WFSGI CEO, Robbert de Kock. The full line-up for this session is here: http://bw.businessweekly.com.tw/event/2021/BeyondExercise
In October last year, at the request of EBMA, the European Commission suddenly changed the rules of origin for countries with non-preferential status, among which Taiwan. This happened without prior notice and without any transition period.
Annick Roetynck explained the new rules and how to meet these. She also questioned the need for this change. E-bikes exported from Taiwan to Europe have indeed increased. Following the dumping inquiry in 2018 and the imposition of measures in 2019, some of the assembly was moved from China to Taiwan. However, one would expect that the move of these alleged dumped e-bikes would result in a decrease of the value. Remarkably enough, the opposite happened. In 2019, average value was 5.4% higher than in 2018
Annick Roetynck’s presentation starts in this Youtube streaming at 2:15:
For the presentation as a pdf-file, please send an email to annick@leva-eu.com
The Taiwan Trade Centre London (TAITRA) has informed us of a new opportunity to meet Taiwanese suppliers online. Trade with Europe 2020 will be held virtually on Wednesday 7th of October between 7.30 and 11 am UK time (GMT+1).
Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) and TAITRA are co-hosting this event, aiming to promote Taiwan-Europe bilateral business cooperation. Virtual one-on-one business meetings facilitated by TAITRA will enable European businesses to tap into Taiwan’s global supply chain.
To avoid undue competition among Taiwanese suppliers, participating buyers who have previously procured a certain item from a Taiwanese supplier may not enquire about/procure the same item from another supplier during this event.
Buyers must provide details of products sought and participate in trade meeting(s) with at least five Taiwanese companies (30 minutes per meeting).
To register, buyers should outline the products they are interested in sourcing using this Google Form: https://forms.gle/MPpdQEBGxRmgBxDz7. Next, TAITRA will provide a shortlist of suitable suppliers. Finally, online meetings will be arranged with the suppliers that buyers choose to connect with. Please note that the sign-up deadline is tomorrow 4 September. For any questions, please contact Adèle Sreeves (asreeves@taitra.org.tw) at the Taiwan Trade Centre London.
Please note that, after this TAITRA event, members are still welcome to contact us should you be looking for specific suppliers in Taiwan. We will then consult with TAITRA as to suitable suppliers for your specific needs: annick@leva-eu.com, tel. +32 9 233 60 05
Comments Off on E-Bike imports into EU shrink with more than 30%
In 2018, there were still more than 1 million electric bicycles with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h and 250W imported[i] into the EU. On 18 January 2019, the European Commission published its decision to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on electric bicycles, which had an immediate effect. In 2019, imports from outside the EU shrunk with more than 30% to a little over 750,000.
Taiwan wins
The decrease in EU imports was entirely at the expense of China, which saw its result decimated from + 660,000 to just over 107,000. The biggest winner outside Europe of this decision was Taiwan. The country exported 338,570 e-bikes into the EU, 80% more than the previous year. Vietnam ended second in the top ten of exporters, but its export increased hardly: only 1.1% to just under 155,000. It is very likely that the Vietnamese result will be considerably higher this year, among other things due to the ratification of the free trade agreement with the EU.
New players
There are a few remarkable newcomers in the top 10. Malaysia in 8th position grew its export to the EU from virtually nothing to just under 11,000. Exports from Indonesia, on 9, remained relatively low at around 3,500, a result similar to that of the Cambodian export, which pushed the country from 7th to 9th position. Thailand booked a “modest” increase of just under 40% to a total of almost 16,000 and remained in 5th position. Turkey, in a customs union with the EU, managed only to a limited extent to benefit from the measures taken against China; it imported around 13,000 bikes, which was almost 5.5 times more than in 2018. Last year, China lost in volume a total of 552,508 electric bicycles. The countries in the top 10 (without Switzerland) have scooped up 37.7% of that loss, i.e. 208,493 bikes.
Average value
Switzerland is the country in the top 10 that has exported the most expensive e-bikes to the European Union. Their average value was € 1,714, that is a 7.5% increase. Surprisingly, in second place is Cambodia with € 1,129, almost double the value of 2018. In third place comes Taiwan, which only marginally increased its average value with 5.5% to € 1,055. The average value of imports from Thailand, Turkey and Indonesia all decreased with percentages under 10 and ended up anywhere between 500 and € 660. Remarkably enough, the average value of e-bikes from Japan only reached € 483, very close to the average Chinese value in 2018 of € 443. In conclusion, the average value of the total European import increased with 38.7% to € 836.
Dumping?
With the imposition of duties on e-bikes from China, quite a number of Chinese assemblers and their customers moved their operations to Taiwan. That explains why import volume increased with 80%. If there would have been dumping at a scale as argued by EBMA and endorsed by the Commission, then these accused Chinese assemblers would have dragged the average Taiwanese value down. The fact that the opposite has happened is quite telling.
Obviously, what little assembly is left in China now can only be in the lowest price range. With anti-dumping and countervailing duties up to almost 80%, mid- and high-range e-bikes produced in China obviously become unsellable in the EU. And so the average value of e-bikes from China has dropped with almost 42% to € 258.
EU export
Last year, the EU has exported 138,000 e-bikes, a modest growth of almost 16%. The three main customers are Switzerland, Norway and the US. The average value, which was already high in 2018, increased with another 2.7% to € 1,587. The total value of European exported e-bikes was € 219 million, an increase of 19%. That is still about 3 times less than the total import value, which ended up at € 629 million in 2019, almost 4% less than in 2018.
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[i] All numbers in this article only concern e-bikes with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h and 250W, CN Code 8711 60 10. The results for other electric bicycles are not available from Eurostat yet.
TAITRA has launched a 2D & VR TaipeiCycle and TaiSPO expo, allowing you to discover award winning products & order online. See more here: https://tinyurl.com/y8upkdww
TAITRA’s UK office, the Taiwan Trade Centre in London, is on hand to answer any questions you may have about sourcing from Taiwan. They can prepare lists of potential suppliers based on your sourcing needs and arrange online meetings with those you are interested in connecting with.
Taiwan’s Ministry of finance reported staggering export numbers of its e-bike industry. The industry exported a volume of 452,000 e-bikes in the first 9 months of 2019, which is a growth of 131.4% compared to last year. Just as the volume, the total value has grown remarkably to $591 billion (€530 billion), resulting in a plus of 119.51%. However, the average price of a Taiwanese e-bike dropped to 1,307.59$ (€1.175), a 5,2% down compared to last year.
Biggest importer of e-bikes from Taiwan is the Netherlands, who replaced the USA this year. When combining both conventional and e-bike exports from Taiwan, the Netherlands is the biggest customer, followed by the USA, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain.
