Stories from Expometals: the impact of COVID-19 on the wire and fastener industry

What was the impact of COVID-19 on the wire and fasteners industry worldwide?
Did governments and institutions live up to their role during real emergencies? How long will the global economy suffer from the consequences of the pandemic? And how can the national and international markets be revived?

These are the questions that crowd the minds of entrepreneurs in this delicate phase of reopening and recovery. We present you here a collection of stories of numerous companies on expometals.net, all describing how the COVID-19 emergency has been handled in different parts of the world. What do these stories have in common? They all highlight the uncertainty about prospects and the substantial immobility of the market, but they all share a great desire to start over and make up for the lost time.

Starting from Europe, the situation appears to be for the most part under control. In France “getting back to work in the time of pandemic was not an easy task.” - commented Ms Véronique Greusset, General Director of Isis SAS, French top-class tungsten carbide and alloy steel tools manufacturer. “Why was it so difficult for the Government to provide masks? Why haven’t we been able to test the population quickly? Anyways, I’m glad we managed to sort things out. It required some restructuring of the work environment, of course, but overall I think we have done a great job so far."

Speaking about Italy, the shared sentiment appears to be along the same line. Industry professionals agree that the Government should have handled the situation differently, locking down the first hotbeds earlier: “I do not think anyone expected an emergency of this magnitude, but the possible impact of the coronavirus was largely underestimated” stated Marco Cogliati, Sales Manager of the historical wire drawing company Giuseppe & F.lli Bonaiti. The industry also voiced their disappointment with the economic assistance plan enacted by the government, which should be closer to the real needs of companies. To quote Jody Giussani, Sales and Logistics Manager of GEL, a specialist in the production of a wide range of steel wire products located 30 km north of Milan: “Italy needs Made in Italy and should support the entrepreneurs".
However, Italian businessmen remain positive that the country will eventually sort things out and “come out even stronger than before” - as stated by Giuseppe Parroco, owner of Essebi Srl, cold heading machines specialist.

Germany apparently kept its cool, dealing with the emergency with the usual quick and pragmatic attitude. To date, the conditions in some regions remain rather critical, but as stated by Markus Giese of the Drahtwerk Wagener drawing mill, the German government has already demonstrated on several occasions to have quite the quick reflexes, adapting its legislation to the emerging demands of the entrepreneurs: “The government did a great job. All politicians were aware that this was not the time for ideological discussions. Instead, they were able to make clear announcements to protect the people from being infected.”

Wondering if and when we'll have to withstand a second wave, based on the data reported by the World Health Organization we notice that many countries have already been through the most critical phase of the pandemic while others such as the United States and Brazil have not yet reached the first peak. In this regard, Canada seems like an oasis amid a continent where tens of thousands of new cases still occur every day: “We remain optimistic as our local economy begins to re-open in light of stabilizing COVID-19 cases. Despite these unexpected circumstances, it is evident that the wire industry is looking to the future as we continue to have a high demand for quotations. The fabricating sector in Quebec, Canada, has been operational since early May after a brief shutdown beginning mid-March” - commented QED Wire Lines, a Canadian machine builder specializing in process lines for the steel wire industry.

The coronavirus has made a huge impact also on South African businesses over the last few months. As the Association for the Wire fraternity in South Africa, SAWA has been looking at the best possible ways to ensure that everyone stays safe. "We have put all our events scheduled on hold - until we have a clearer view of what will be happening for the rest of this year [...] We seek, as always, to support our members as well as we can through this unprecedented period in all our lives." States Mr. Keith Campbell, President of the South African Wire Association.

Not even countries almost at the edge of the world such as New Zealand were spared by the grasp of the pandemic. Even there, after a brief lockdown, companies had to deal with several reopening-related issues. As reported by Neil Spencer, Managing Director of the wire mill solutions provider PWT Ltd.: “I think the industry will continue. Some companies may disappear depending on their financial position, for instance. Short term may see some customer expenditure delayed whilst others will fast track projects to get ahead of competitors. We saw a similar scenario during the global financial crisis.”

Amidst this critical global picture, the case of Taiwan stands out as a model of good practice for pandemic management. The numbers confirm the efficiency in terms of timely actions, and effectiveness in terms of the results achieved. We have deepened the issue in an interview with Fratom Fastech, one of the country's leading fastener tool manufacturers. According to the General Manager Thomas Liu, the country's economy has been heavily affected by the ripple waves of the pandemic, also partly because of the excessive alarmism and the lack of an economic stimulus plan taking into account the company’s real economic conditions. However, the low number of infections and more generally the restarting of business activities on a global scale bodes well for the rapid recovery of the country.

On the one hand, the pandemic has forced many companies to re-evaluate their priority list, both in terms of work, consolidating innovative practices such as agile and remote working; and in personal terms, changing the way we relate and communicate with other individuals and with nature itself. The clouds of uncertainty are still on the horizon, but a sense of confidence and unity remains, of cautious optimism that will be crucial in the return to normalcy. On the other hand, as the system reboots, all the pressing issues that had been on the table until just a few months ago before the COVID-19 stole the show, such as environmental sustainability, climate changes, the search for renewable energy sources, developments in electric mobility, increasing urbanization, and overpopulation become relevant once again. The real game starts now.