Approximately what percentage of rod blanks are actually made in versus imported to the U.S.A.? Any idea how the coronavirus epidemic in Asia will affect the availability and cost of rod blanks in the U.S.A.?

Phil,
I can guarantee that when folks look back at the year 2020 from the future of 2050, they will be able to tell exactly what the effect of the illness had on the availability and cost of rod blanks in the USA.

From my reading, it appears that a lot of factories are being reopened and many folks are going back to work in the Far East.

[www.bloomberg.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2020 11:42AM by roger wilson.

Getting information 30 years after it's needed it is not very helpful. Will U.S. blank manufacturers, protected by our superior healthcare system, be able to expand production to keep up with the demand? I suppose that depends upon the percentage of U.S. made blanks in the rod blank market?

The cost of expanding production will only be born if a shortage is being experienced! Doing otherwise is a negative economic pursuit!

Not so sure about our superior healthcare system, last I heard we were rated #37.

Yes but the counties rated ahead of us all seem to have their people wanting to come to the U.S. if they need serious medical care. Funny how that works.The death toll from corona virus is not likely to be as high here as it is in counties with less developed health care. The head of the CDC said this morning it would likely fall into the same range as the common flu, about 1/2 of one percent or something like that. Good to be prepared but it's not anywhere close to becoming an epidemic... yet. In the meantime not all factories in China have closed. Blanks continue to come into the U.S.

From what I have heard through sources with factory contacts is that there was a mandatory closer of many of the non-essential type plants that included general products for export and it did effect the plant that I know about that produces rod blanks. They are apparently going to re-open and begin limited production and eventually get the plant back up starting this week. I believe there were going to screen all the workers coming back to work. Hopefully all will go well and we won't see too much inflation. This coming week will most likely be the indicator of how it will go. From what I have seen here following the news is that mortality rates are highest among the elderly. The mainstream media in it's infinite wisdom leaves this small amount of information out in order to sell their product. The reason why countries like China (Asian) may seem to take this as a greater threat, than say the US, is the fact that they revere the elderly whereas in the US we put youth in that position. For instance; Greta Thunberg, why do we care what an ignorant 16-17 year old child thinks or says, but for some reason western civilizations and the media do.

Lance, your starting to sound like a cranky OLD man..lol..but you,ll grow out of it in a year or two..lol.

Why is there so many worrying about building rods when everybody is going to live in a bubble and not go outside to go fishing anymore.

The common flu has been killing people with weakened immune systems everyday and people aren’t going nuts about it.

I still would like to know approximately what percentage of rod blanks sold in the U.S.A. were made in the U.S.A.. I don't particularly care about the age of the responder, only the accuracy of the information?

Let's get back to the original question - what percentage of blanks sold to U.S. custom builders are made in the USA. I'm going to include all of North America and say that you'd most likely be looking at about 25%.

..............

Thanks, Tom. [And I did not mean to imply you are too old to believe!]

Yeah! Imported viruses have been killing Americans for 300 years, what's the big deal anyway? Just don't touch your face.

Lynn,
Absolutely do not minimize the Novell 19 coronovirus.

The reason for concern are two fold.

1. The longevity of the virus - once out of the body. i,e, if a person who has the virus coughs and the cough droplets that get expelled and contain the virus may lie on a surface and remain contagious for several days. This in contrast to most other illnesses where the virus is only contagious for a few minutes of an hour or so.

2. Currently, there is no defined and approved medicine to treat the virus, nor is there any vaccine to prevent getting the virus. It is up to your own bodies immune system to get you well. Unfortunately for older patients - especially with respiratory or heart related conditions, the body may fail to sustain life.

3. Follow the guidelines to avoid contact with the virus is currently the best plan of action.

4. Speed of the spread. Essentially the illness was first reported about the first day of 2020. Here we are 10 weeks into the spread, and the illness has spread to every continent in the world with the exception of antarctic and has affected many folks.

But, you can also compare this to the various forms of flu in the USA for 2019-2020.

"Flu season is hitting its stride right now in the US. So far, the CDC has estimated (based on weekly influenza surveillance data) that at least 12,000 people have died from influenza between Oct. 1, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020, and the number of deaths may be as high as 30,000.Feb 11, 2020"

So, yes Lynn, this is a very big deal - especially if you happen to be one of the folks that contract the illness.

Take care

Roger, I was attempting to be facetious! Too many are making light of this threat.