A deeply-felt personal insight to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Italy, its people, businesses and hope from Gian Marco Dalpane, president of UDIB, the Italian association of fastener distributors, and Massimo Grazia, UDIB board member.

The Covid-19 pandemic, in Italy, began in early February, exploding in the middle of the same month. The closures and movement restrictions will continue for months and the ascertained cases will reach close to two hundred thousand, with tens of thousands of people dead. At the moment, even though the situation is constantly evolving, Italy is the third country in the world for positive cases and the second for deaths.

Covid-19 mainly affected Northern Italy, especially the heavily industrialised areas of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna. Bergamo, in particular, has recorded the highest numbers in terms of infections and deaths. The lockdown began on 9th March, exactly one day before the WHO declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.

Concerning the fasteners sector, as it is well related to all industrial sectors, the drop in turnover is proving to be very heavy. Actually, it’s very difficult to quantify the real dimension of the problem and, above all, what will be the scenarios coming in the next months. UDIB associates, from a first estimate, can quantify the turnover drop during April, to be as much as 70% – 80%. Sectors such as the automotive and the entire related production chain completely stopped. In Italy, vehicle registrations fell by 85% during March.

At macroeconomic level, the IMF forecasts a 9.1% drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, followed by a 4.8% rebound in 2021. A rebound which, if confirmed by the facts, will allow recovery of only half of the income levels lost in recent months, with important impacts on employment and social holding in the country. This is the second worst projection among all European countries, excepting Greece.