by Gang Hao Chang, Fastener World Inc.

 

The 2^nd edition of Fastener Fair Russia was relocated to Moscow, the capital of Russia from St. Petersburg, the city with many tourists, under the strong demand of several exhibitors in the previous exhibition. 131 exhibitors from China, Italy, France, Taiwan, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Hungary, India, Netherlands, South Korea, UK, Denmark, Belarus gathered together under one roof. The largest delegation of exhibitors was from local Russia. Diversified exhibits and service included finished/semi-finished screws, fastening tools, machining stations/technology, manufacturing machines, surface treatment, heat treatment, and so on.

 

The exhibition, co-located with Intertunnel, TransCon, and Expotraffic, took place at Hall 69 of All Russian Exhibition Centre (VVC) near the suburb of Moscow city. Fastener Fair Russia was at the 2^nd floor. Compared to other large hardware exhibitions, though the scale of Fastener Fair Russia was rather small, it also offered a remarkable chance for interaction within the industry. Well-known companies like Sacma, Ambrovit, Bossard, Böllhoff and MMK-Metiz, etc came to exhibit, while Chee How, Pro-Path, Bi-Mirth, Panther T&H, Chia-Li, Angelray, A-Plus, Alex Screw, S&T, and Fastener World were also present in Taiwan Pavilion.

 

As the territory of Russia is immense and its demand for fasteners used in cars, construction, and related industries is high, it has become a region lots of manufacturers/suppliers feel interested and would like to gain a presence. The fastener export from Taiwan to Russia in 2013 rose to the 10^th place from the 14^th place in 2012, making Russia the 10^th largest fastener export destination of Taiwan. However, those who want to enter the market of Russia or former CIS countries have to take the most care of the proficiency in Russian. It’s very hard for one speaking only English to enter the Russian market successfully.

 

According to the onsite observation, most buyers in Russia prefer buying standard parts and care about the price most. As a result, if the price is comparatively low but a certain level of quality remains, products will be more preferable to buyers. Based on this point, suppliers in Taiwan and China show more advantages. In addition to finished products, machinery suppliers were also the focus of many Russian buyers. Some machinery suppliers from Europe, USA, and Asia co-exhibited with others or were directly represented by local agents, drawing the inquiries of Russian visitors.

 

Most buyers were from Moscow. Although the number of visitors was less than expected, large Russian fastener distributors like Bolt.ru still came to visit the exhibition for searching cooperative targets.

 

After the perfect closure of the 2014 edition, the next Fastener Fair Russia will be given in March 24-26, 2015 in St. Petersburg in anticipation of more buyers and exhibitors.