While concerns about the spread of coronavirus is impacting some international shows - not least Barcelona's cancelled MWC tech show - the organisers of next month's International Hardware Fair have confirmed it will be business as usual in Cologne.
The organiser - Koelnmesse GmbH - told Torque that the Cologne show has seen some exhibitor cancellations, approximately 40 by Chinese and non-Chinese exhibitors out of a total of almost 3,000 expected exhibitors.
UPDATED: Major exhibitor Gedore has confirmed it won't be attending this year. In a statement on its site, Gedore said: "The health and safety of our employees, customers and all business partners is our priority. Unfortunately, this means that GEDORE is withdrawing from the International Hardware Fair Cologne 2020."
Here's the statement from Koelnmesse GmbH passed to Torque, before the Gedore news became public: "Similarly to comparable cases in the past, Koelnmesse has initiated a level of heightened vigilance in view of a potential threat from the coronavirus (Covid-19) at our trade fairs. This includes us being in permanent dialogue with the health authorities, as well as intensive monitoring of worldwide reporting and official announcements from China.
"We rely on the statements issued by the German health authorities and World Health Organization. According to them, Germany is well prepared to identify, isolate and, where necessary, also to treat potential patients. In view of the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the German Federal Ministry of Health and the local health authorities, there is currently no reason to cancel major events such as those at Koelnmesse. As things stand at the moment, all upcoming trade fairs in Cologne will be held as planned.
"We will be introducing constructive precautionary measures, advising our customers appropriately, and increasing levels of disinfectant supplies provided at the event grounds. Highly frequented areas of the exhibition grounds are also being cleaned at shorter intervals. Qualified doctors and paramedics at our medical stations are prepared for potential suspected cases and are available to answer your questions in situ.
"For the upcoming INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR, we have currently received around 40 cancellations by Chinese and non-Chinese exhibitors out of a total of almost 3,000 expected exhibitors."
The firm had already responded to concerns from exhibitors and visitors last month, when it outlined 'heightened vigilance' and measures to allay fears.
The long-running high profile trade show sees around 47,000 visitors, with overseas visitors making up over 70% of the total number of attendees.
There are more statistics on the show in our video round-up:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfs_4YTy5w4&t=11s[/embed]
Aside from causing some Cologne show cancellations, and the awful impact on human lives, the coronavirus outbreak looks likely to have some impact on the fastener supply chain, the scale of which will be largely dependent on when China's factories all return to normal running. Torque has sourced comments from two of the UK's largest fastener importers - Hexstone and TIMco - as well as collated comments from the likes of Goebel Fasteners for their assessment of the developing situation for the supply chain.
