The latest news from TPi Magazine en-gb 40 Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT The World's leading Trade Fairs for Wire, Cable and Tubes report excellent Business: More Exhibitors than ever before! The trade visitors of wire and Tube again assessed the two top events overall as excellent. During the five trade fair days, a total of 73,500 trade visitors from 111 countries came to Düsseldorf. In comparison with the previous events, the evaluation of the products and services on offer has again improved. German and international trade fair visitors to the two trade fairs gave excellent marks for the offer range of the fairs. In addition, there were more first-time visitors to wire as well as Tube. http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT The International Tube Association – the world's largest and most influential personal membership association for the tube and pipe industries – has appointed Dipl.-Ing. Peter Byroslawsky as its new Executive Secretary. Peter has more than 40 years' experience in the tube and pipe industry and subsequently gained many years' experience in sales and marketing departments. Prior to becoming a consultant in 2009, Mr Byroslawsky enjoyed a long career with Mannesmann Demag AG, latterly employed as General Manager of the worldwide Central Marketing department for SMS Meer GmbH, Germany. Mr Byroslawsky has experience in planning of national and international fair participation, including stand management, and public relations at a national and international level. His broad experience has led him to undertake work in near, middle and far East, eastern European countries, Russia and, for example, during his work for several years in a Chinese Joint Venture. Mr Byroslawsky has been a member of the ITA's European Management Board and the International Executive Management Board since 2004. Peter will be managing the ITA exhibition stand in Hall 4 at Tube Dusseldorf 2012 (26 – 30 March). He can be contacted via the ITA Secretariat at: byroslawsky@itatube.org - For further information please contact the ITA on +44 1926 834681 or via email at info@itatube.org http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT In the January to November 2011 period, France exported EUR2.2bn of steel pipes and tubes, up by 28.9% YoY, EUR 384.5 million of cold rolled steel bars, up by 26.6% YoY, EUR501.2mn of cold rolled steel strip, up by 10.62% YoY, EUR 371.1 million of cold drawn wire, up by 22.7% YoY and EUR664.2mn of metal structures and parts, down by 9.5% YoY. According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, France's total steel product exports amounted to EUR 13.89bn in the first 11 months of 2011, up by 13% YoY, while its basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of EUR 9.76bn, increasing by 11.08 per cent YoY. The cumulative value of France's steel product and ferroalloy exports has risen steadily since March 2010 on year on year basis. In the first 11 months of 2011, steel and ferroalloys ranked seventh among the most exported products of the country. Meanwhile, in the period in question, France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled EUR 9.9bn, up by 19.2% YoY. During the given period, France imported EUR 1.66 billion of steel pipes and tubes, up by 17% YoY, EUR 435.4 million of cold rolled steel bars, up by 26.7% YoY, EUR 617.5mn of cold rolled steel strip, up by 18.2% YoY, EUR 413.2 million of cold drawn wire, up by 19.7% YoY and EUR 1.27bn of metal structures and parts, up by 3.65% YoY. . http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT In just under three months that time will have come around again. Tube 2012, the number one trade fair for the pipe and tube industry, will be presenting technology highlights in the exhibition halls on the Rhine in spring 2012. From 26 to 30 March 2012 the two leading international events wire, International Wire and Cable Trade Fair, and Tube, International Tube and Pipe Trade Fair, will be held concurrently in Düsseldorf for the 13th time. Current registration figures for both trade fairs make the Düsseldorf trade fair organisers more than confident. At this stage (correct as of January 2012) 1,196 enterprises from 45 countries have already registered for wire. 2012 will again see the traditionally strong participation of exhibitors from Italy, Belgium, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Germany. Also positive to note is the high number of registrations received from Sweden. The majority of overseas companies come from the USA, China, India and Taiwan. All of these 1,196 companies together currently occupy approximately 56,500 square metres of exhibition space. Tube boasts 1,055 exhibitors from 44 countries, here most European enterprises come from Italy, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, Germany and the United Kingdom. Also positive is the number of registrations received from the Czech Republic. At present, the exhibitors of Tube occupy around 47,500 square metres of net exhibition space. Tube occupies Halls 1 to 7a. Pipe and tube accessories can be found in Halls 1 and 2, trade and manufacturing follow in Halls 2, 3, 4 and 7. Forming technology is located in Hall 5. Pipe and tube finishing machinery is exhibited in Halls 6 and 7a, not forgetting the segment of plant and machinery in parts of Hall 7a. Tube presents the complete spectrum ranging from pipe and tube production to processing and the trade with tubes. Ranges include raw materials, pipes and accessories, pipe and tube manufacturing machinery and second-hand machinery, tools and auxiliary materials for process engineering and measuring and control technology. Pipelines and OCTG technology, profiles and profile technology, testing technology and special areas such as warehousing automation and control systems complement the extensive ranges on show. http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT With an increase in worldwide production of 13 per cent to around 124 million tons last year, the steel tube industry was able to leave the previous year's slump behind it more quickly than expected. The remarkable aspect of this fact is that after only one year the record results of 2007 und 2008 were attained once again. A large part in this development was once again played by the Chinese steel tube manufacturers. With an increase in production of 9.5 per cent to 58 million tons in 2010 they reached a world market share of 46 per cent. In the rest of the world, compared to 2009, production even increased by as much as 17 per cent to 67 million tons. This strong growth in percentage terms should, however, not disguise the fact that this was clearly below the record value of the boom year 2008 (almost 80 million tons). Compared to 2009, all tube segments were able to increase in 2010, even if at varying rates. The highest growth was registered by the seamless steel tubes segment with a worldwide production increase of 19 per cent to around 39 million tons. The recovery in demand for small welded tubes (up to 406-millimetre external diameter) and large welded tubes was smaller, with increases of 11 per cent for both. With well over 60 million tons, the small welded pipes and tubes market segment was by far the largest product sector ahead of seamless tubes with around 39 million tons. The driving force behind this trend was once again the energy sector, which as a result of the renewed increase in oil prices, ensured increased investments. The increased demand from the automobile manufacturing sector coupled with the recovery in the mechanical engineering sector later in the year, contributed to growth. At around 13 million tons, the European steel tube manufacturers achieved an increase of 13 per cent in 2010 compared to the previous year, which corresponded to the average worldwide growth rate. In terms of percentages the increase in production output by the German manufacturers was somewhat lower. Here, in 2010, an increase in production of 10 per cent to just over 3 million tons was registered. In this connection, it must admittedly be taken into account that the German steel tube industry had emerged from the crisis year 2009 in a better state overall than other European producers due to the good employment situation in the large tube manufacturing sector. http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Tata Steel has inked a distribution agreement with Eisenbau Krämer (EBK) to expand its product offering and services to the offshore renewable energy market. Huge quantities of wind turbine foundation structures called jacket foundations are required for wind tower structures due to the increased activities in the renewable energy sector. The Hartlepool facility will launch a central supply base for the distribution of steel tubular sections utilised in the production of jacket foundations. Work on the facility is slated to commence in October 2011, with completion slated for spring 2012. At the new facility, components will be produced from steel tubulars and then made ready for welding into the final structures, resulting in the reduction of output times and enhancement of cost effectiveness to the customers, who can now get all types of steel components from one supplier. Groundwork comprises cutting-to-size, welding, shot-blasting, coating and profiling. Materials that are stored in the kit form will be supplied to fabricators located across UK and Europe through the UK rail network and local deepwater ports. Tata Steel's director for tubes, Ramsay Ross stated that this investment strengthens Tata Steel's presence in the renewable market. The wind tower hub launched in Scunthorpe in 2010 to fabricate and supply steel plates for fabricators was an important part of this strategy, he said. The next step is this separate development, in which the company will alter the buildings and invest in new properties at Hartlepool, he said. Under the supply deal with EBK, Tata Steel and EBK will produce steel tubes with diameters above400mm using the plates produced at Tata Steel's facilities in Dalzell or Scunthorpe. Besides supplying tubulars for jacket foundations, Tata Steel also offers small-sized sections and tubulars ideal for all types of major and minor steel works in the fabrication of wind turbines. http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT APL Apollo Tubes, a leading manufacturer and exporter of steel pipes and tubes, has been admitted to trade in National Stock Exchange (NSE). The Equity Shares of the company have been listed and admitted to dealings on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) under the symbol 'APLAPOLLO' in the 'EQ' series with effect from December 14, 2011. H1FY12 Performance (Consolidated basis) Net sales during the first half is up by 63 per cent at Rs. 6.19bn as compared to Rs. 379.4 crore in the corresponding period last year. EBIDTA is up 42 per cent at Rs. 50.5 crore as against Rs. 355mn in the corresponding first half ended September 30, 2010 Net profit for the first half has risen by 24.6 per cent at Rs. 214.4mn as against Rs. 17.21 crore during the same period under review and EPS (not annualised) for the period ended September 30, 2011 stood at Rs. 10.56. Volume of steel pipes and tubes during the period has risen by 47 per cent to – 142000 MT as compared to corresponding first half of last year. Growth in volume is on back of higher contribution from Greenfield facility at Hosur, additional capacity from recently acquired Lloyds Line Pipes and better offtake from urban infrastructure projects http://www.read-tpi.com/news.html