Build trust with fast and accurate feedback on customer orders

One of the items in which Korea ranks overwhelmingly first in the world is butane gas. The global market size for butane gas is approximately 700 million units, and most products produced domestically are intended for export to 70 countries around the world, including those made by Hwasan Co., Ltd. Founded in 1991, Hwasan is a manufacturer of portable butane gas products. With customer safety being prioritized under the motto of ‘safe products and convenient life’, the company has developed and registered a patent for an overpressure safety device for gas fuel containers, a long-awaited dream of the butane gas industry. The overpressure safety device developed by Hwasan is a structure that opens by the action of a spring when the pressure rises and closes when it decreases. By regulating the amount of gas released, the internal pressure of the butane gas can is lowered to prevent a rupture. This technology was Korea’s first-ever to pass the 'Special Standards for Manufacturing, Inspection and Charging of Joint Containers with Safety Valves for Portable Butane Combustors', and since 2011, it has been exporting portable butane gas with safety valves worldwide to prevent explosions, besides selling them domestically.

CEO Jang Joon Hyuk says that Hwasan's strength is that it is fast, accurate, and price competitive and proudly affirms that buyers' response has been quite positive because they can receive fast and accurate information from the manufacturer. On account of this, it is able to maintain an ongoing partnership with buyers upon entering into a single transaction. This is attributed to the mutual trust being established.

Matching that Combines the Needs of Buyers with the Capabilities of Small & Medium-Sized Businesses Equipped with Know-how

For Hwasan, which focuses on the export rather than the domestic market, the opportunity to earn high praise and the trust of buyers is more important than anything else. It has made tangible efforts to increase the frequency of exposure to its products through various channels, including the Korea International Trade Association support project. As part of this, a transaction with a leading buyer was finalized through the AI-based Auto Match platform by tradeKorea. The buyer is a company that distributes various types of butane gas for outdoor camping, and was seeking a butane gas manufacturer capable of OEM production of various designs. Given the fact that Hwasan holds a patent for butane cans with safety valves and is a manufacturer capable of OEM production of various designs, it met all the conditions to meet the needs of the buyer. The buyer learned about Hwasan after seeing the butane gas products posted through the AI-based Auto Match platform by tradeKorea and sent an inquiry asking if OEM production would be possible. Afterwards, Hwasan was able to confirm positive transaction intentions between two sides after consultations with tradeKorea and checking with the buyer whether OEM production would be possible, whether it had certification, pricing information, etc.
Then, the buyer exchanged emails with Hwasan for two months with the support of tradeKorea, and after detailed discussions on the OEM design, an order for 66,500 units, equivalent to one 40-ton container, was secured. The buyer is highly satisfied with the actual design confirmation and performance test results and plans to continue with more orders once supplies run out.

In addition, given the difference in the local time, we earned high praise from buyers for checking the emails in real time, even late at night and on weekends, and replying to them promptly. Hwasan participated in the Korea International Trade Association's support project two years ago, and finalized a deal with a Malaysian buyer, with whom it continues to build trust by maintaining a partnership to date. CEO Jang Joon Hyuk expressed his gratefulness to the trade association for looking positively on these elements and exposing company's products to various platforms. Domestic portable butane gas products account for a high portion of the global export market, but the market share of Chinese products has recently been growing. To hold this spread in check and maintain ‘Made-in-Korea’ products’ competitive edge in the market, it is paramount to secure customers by diversifying export countries. CEO Jang Joon Hyuk emphasizes that given the difficulty of finding genuine customers within the industry alone, assistance through support projects from various organizations, including the Korea International Trade Association, is more urgent than ever.