Exhibition News

More than 190 exhibiting companies occupied Halls 9 and 10 at the IFM Exhibition Centre, close to Istanbul’s Ataturk airport. Of these nearly half were Turkish, with many of the country’s leading producers demonstrating their evident pride in a growing and increasingly sophisticated fastener manufacturing sector through both the scale and design of their stands.

The number and extent of manufacturing technology exhibitors and the range of production machinery on display clearly underlined that this is the third largest fastener manufacturing country in Europe after Germany and Italy.

Domestic visitors showed their support for the third edition of the Fastener Fair, the first for which organisers, Mack Brooks Exhibitions, were able to obtain additional space at the busy IFM to accommodate demand. Overall first day visitor numbers were up on 2014, Show Director Olivia Griscelli confirmed to Phil Matten, who spent the day talking to Hall 9 exhibitors. There was, however, disappointment - if also understanding - from many exhibitors at the evident reluctance of some European buyers to visit Istanbul following the recent terrorist event in the city. Turkey’s current political and security uncertainty has clearly not constrained a domestic fastener market, which most exhibitors described as stable and strong. Quiet concerns were, though, voiced for the future of both domestic and export markets – the latter partially reflecting wider economic uncertainty but for some producers of standard fasteners the recent repeal of EU anti dumping measures on China was also an issue.
Overall, though, the Turkish fastener industry was on full song, literally in the case of a Cetin Civata stand, periodically the centre of attention as a talented strings and voice trio drew for the main part approving attention. Turkey’s largest fastener manufacturer, Norm Group, again took a busy centre-front stage in Hall 9 – flanked on all sides by similarly impressive Turkish stands.

Manufacturing technology exhibitors also appeared to attract a steady flow of local visitors on the first day. Much of the equipment on display was Asian, reflecting a Turkish financial climate that continues to demand caution in longer-term investment. That said, several major fastener manufacturers reported substantial investment in new, advanced European equipment and shared concrete plans for significant increases in the scale of their production facilities. Taiwanese and Chinese fastener stands appeared quieter and some European stands, including several return exhibitors that have previously benefited from engaging with overseas visitors to the Fastener Fair, reported a significant downturn in contact levels.

We will publish a report on the full two-day fair in the May issue of Fastener + Fixing Magazine. Not through any want of commitment or energy on the part of organisers and exhibitors what should have been a celebration of a strategically located Fastener Fair fulfilling its potential is likely to be dampened by factors outside any of the participants’ control.