From October 19-26, 2025, CFM organized the 9th ChinaFastener.com 2025 Global Business Trip - Russia Station. During this eight-day, six-night business itinerary, the delegation conducted in-depth visits to Moscow and St. Petersburg, examining local hardware markets, visiting domestic manufacturers, attending the FastTec, and holding discussions with heads of industrial fastener distributors and industry magazine editors.
Through this trip, participants gained multi-dimensional insights into the Russian fastener market's current status and development opportunities, providing valuable reference experience for Chinese fastener companies seeking to expand into this market.
Moscow Slav Mir Hardware & Building Materials Market
The first stop for the delegation was Moscow's famous hardware market - the 41 km Market, also known as the Slav Mir Hardware and Building Materials Market. This market primarily deals in fasteners, hardware accessories, building materials, sanitary ware and fittings, etc., housing approximately over 30 fastener stores.
Delegates visited various shops, examined fastener products, compared them with Chinese products, and discussed differences in product materials, craftsmanship, and application scenarios between China and Russia. Participants carefully recorded these differences, exchanged views on product application prospects, and documented sample parameters to accumulate experience for future market development.
Graffast
Following the market visit, the delegation toured Graffast, a Moscow-based fastener manufacturer. As the only producer of repair and construction anchor bolts in Moscow Oblast, Graffast has been dedicated to achieving self-sufficiency in Russian domestic anchor production since its establishment in 2019. The factory director, Алексей Чураков, warmly welcomed the delegation.
Benefiting from Russia's highly developed metal smelting industry, Graffast selects high-quality metal raw materials from renowned Russian manufacturers and ensures product quality control through localized processing. Leveraging the advantages of Moscow region production, the company currently has an annual capacity of over 50 million high-quality anchor products.
Through CFM's organization and communication, Graffast's management led the delegation through their production workshops, providing an in-depth understanding of Russian domestic manufacturing capabilities and processes, and close contact with Graffast's products.
FastTec
On October 21, the FastTec officially opened. This exhibition was one of the key agenda items for the delegation. FastTec is an international trade fair for industrial, construction, furniture, automotive, and household fasteners, as well as industry equipment, co-located with PCVExpo in the same exhibition hall.
This year's exhibition featured over 1,000 fastener products, including industry-specific fasteners, standard fasteners, fastener materials, and various power tools. Visitors included purchasing managers from industrial enterprises and construction companies, fastener wholesale buyers, assembly plant representatives, and private entrepreneurs. Additionally, six industrial exhibitions ran concurrently with FastTec: PCVExpo, Heat&Power, Testing&Control, NDT Russia, GasSuf, and ExpoCoating Moscow.
On-site visits revealed that over 40 Chinese fastener companies were exhibiting. Concurrently, the CFM team conducted targeted distribution of the 43rd issue of CFM magazine at the exhibition and promoted advertising clients to buyers, helping them understand the dynamics and leading companies within the Chinese fastener industry.
Greenwood International Trade Center
After the FastTec exhibition, the delegation visited the Greenwood International Trade Center. They were received by Zhao Dongrui (Head of Risk Audit and Legal Affairs, Zhongchengtong International Investment Co., Ltd.), Sun Long (Head of Logistics Division), Liu Rifang (Vice General Manager, Greenwood China Commodity Russia Marketing Center), and Gan Jinlong (Head of Investment Promotion).
Established in 2010 and covering over 20 hectares, Greenwood International Trade Center is a trade park invested and held by Chinese companies, providing ample space and policy support for the investment and establishment of Chinese companies.
Positioned as a public service platform for China-Russia economic and trade cooperation, Greenwood offers one-stop services including product display, office meetings and warehousing logistics, etc. It focuses on serving Chinese light industrial exports to Russia and is a key platform for the Chinese government's "Going Global" strategy and Russia's foreign investment attraction policies. As of September 2024, nearly 400 companies have settled in the park, including about 200 Chinese enterprises such as Huawei and Sany Heavy Industry.
Park management warmly received the delegation and held discussions in the conference room. Both sides exchanged in-depth views on fastener trade with Russia, warehouse establishment, customs clearance settlement, and logistics cooperation. Based on the park management's introduction and answers, most delegation members believed that while the Russian market presents challenges and uncertainties, it may become a new "blue ocean" for Chinese fastener companies under the positive influence of China-Russia friendly policies.
Russia Market Symposium
After completing the Moscow itinerary, the delegation traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, for discussions with Слова Тарасов (General Manager of Центр Крепёжных Изделий) and Александр Осташёв (Editor-in-Chief of "Крепёж, клеи, инструмент и...").
As one of Russia's largest industrial fastener distributors, Центр Крепёжных Изделий employs over 200 people and operates warehouses in 13 key cities including St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yekaterinburg. Their central warehouse in St. Petersburg is the largest fastener warehouse in northwestern Russia, stocking over 25,000 SKUs, with more than 4,000 pallet positions and processing approximately 1,200 orders daily.
Its product line covers standard parts, high-strength fasteners, and non-standard custom parts, providing a full range of products including bolts, nuts, washers, and pins. They serve industrial sectors such as energy, machinery manufacturing, rail transportation, and construction bridges, offering one-stop fastening solutions for various industrial enterprises and organizations.
"Крепёж, клеи, инструмент и..." is Russia's only magazine dedicated to the fastening field, covering product selection, data reference, and installation technical guidance. Since its inception in 2002, it has received industry support and recognition. It is worth noting that the magazine maintains a good cooperative relationship with CFM, regularly sharing cutting-edge developments and technological innovations between the two countries, providing readers with more comprehensive and in-depth professional content.
During the symposium, participants discussed the current status, structure, and opportunities of the Russian fastener market, focusing on Russian domestic fastener production capacity, import ratios, market distribution demands, trade methods, and market development strategies. According to Слова Тарасов and Александр Осташёв, Russia's annual total fastener demand is approximately 900,000 tons, with imports accounting for 60%. High-specification, special-purpose, and small-batch customized products mostly rely on imports.
