In the UK and Ireland 2011, was a year of two halves with first half seeing consolidation, and in some key industries, some strong growth from 2010 levels. The second half of the year has seen a significant drop in business levels and confidence particularly amongst the smaller CEMs and SMEs.
The current economic woes in the Euro-zone do not help UK business confidence as Europe remains our largest trading partner, however, we remain hopeful that a positive solution to the current crisis in Europe will see demand recovering in the UK.
The recent fall in metal prices should help encourage some forward buying as well if some degree of confidence can be restored.
Despite our reservations, we look forward to 2012 and hope that we at DKL can see continued growth across all product ranges, particularly with the introduction of the OT2 solder paste from our partner Cobar and their latest generation of fluxes etc. for selective soldering.
