Issue: #130 July 2021

I know that there are currently a lot of topics within the market that are ‘up in the air’ with no answers either way being available. Nowhere is this more apparent than the current anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain iron or steel fasteners from the People’s Republic of China.

Going to print, there had been no developments regarding the investigation. Although the European Commission has now set 21^st August 2021 as the latest date to announce provisional measures. Pre-disclosure of the Commission’s intentions must be made four weeks prior to that date, which means the latest something should be announced is 20^th July. However, these are the ‘latest’ dates so the announcement could come sooner.

As always, once there is any news it will be published on www.fastenerandfixing.com and we shall send a ‘breaking news’ email, so make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter.

Whilst there is nothing from the European Commission on anti-dumping, we do have an article from the European Fastener Distributor Association (EFDA) on the potential impact of tariffs on an EU economy already threatened by fastener shortages.

There is also an article from Hans Führlbeck, managing director at Deutscher Schraubenverband e.V – the German association for manufacturers of mechanical fasteners, who gives the perspective of manufacturers on the anti-dumping investigation and the current factors impacting them.

Whilst there is no announcement on anti-dumping, Mack-Brooks Exhibitions has announced the launch of a brand new online event – Fastener Fair Connect. Scheduled to take place from 17^th – 18^th November 2021, the event will complement the existing live shows. We have a special preview of what to expect from the new digital event, as well as an exclusive interview with Liljana Goszdziewski, portfolio director of the European Fastener Fairs on behalf of the organisers Mack-Books Exhibitions, who talks about what exhibitors and visitors can expect from the show.

To add to this, we also have a special Made in Taiwan feature, including an introductory article from our Taiwanese media partner – Fastener World. In addition to focusing on the Taiwanese economy and the impact of Covid-19, the article from Fastener World also analyses the financial reports of leading Taiwanese fastener companies and how they have been impacted by the pandemic.

To go alongside this, we also have a range of articles from Taiwanese manufacturers that focus on the continued developments in products, capabilities, and markets, that have happened at a whole host of companies over the last 12 months.

Finally, in Application Technology we have an excellent feature on how fastening technology is used within a wide range of automotive applications. There is also a fascinating article from Peter Standring, technical secretary at Industrial Metalforming Technologies, which looks at product disassembly and why it should become more of a focus for industries in the future and also whether it is the keystone in being able to achieve a ‘carbon neutral’ future.