Day: 15 September 2020

The steel industry Wire & Tube fair will be going ahead as planned early December, fair operator Messe Düsseldorf said Sept. 15.

The event is due to be held Dec. 7-11 in Düsseldorf, Germany, after already been postponed from March when the pandemic started to hit Germany.

The news comes despite concerns over future pandemic developments raised by market participants and companies such as steelmaker Thyssenkrupp pulling out of the event.

“In a meeting of the European associations acting as conceptual sponsors of the events in Düsseldorf the decision has now been taken that a commitment to the leading trade fairs from their respective sectors of industry is indispensable despite these challenging times,” Messe Düsseldorf said in a statement.

The organizer said that due to travel restrictions they expect a “primarily European character” of the Wire & Tube this year.

German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp announced Sept. 8 that the group would not attend the fair due to infection risks and unforeseeable developments of the pandemic.

There has been growing market chatter over major European mills pondering whether to pull out of this year’s trade show in order to save costs after being hit with cash flow problems and general concerns over travel restrictions and safety.

After the postponement of the Euroblech fair to 2021, Wire & Tube is set to become the only major industry event planned in Europe in 2020. The fair is held every two years and is one of the major trade shows in Europe for the flat and long steel industry. In 2018, the Wire & Tube fair attracted more than 71,000 visitors.

— Laura Varriale

NLMK Clabecq has made the first supply of “Quard” 450 wear-resistant steel, expanding further its customer portfolio.

The delivery was made to Feniks, a company producing special-purpose machinery installed on chassis frames. “The unique wear-resistant properties of this steel grade more than triples the durability of individual special-purpose equipment components,” NLMK tells Kallanish.

“Our company plans to further develop this product and to introduce new grades of wear-resistant rolled products into production for our Russian and international customers,” it adds.

Earlier this year Clabecq signed a supply contract with Brazilian company Innova for the delivery of Quard 500 abrasion resistant plates (see Kallanish passim).

French steel exports to non-EU countries fell again in April after declining in the first quarter, Kallanish learns from new data released by national steel association Fédération Française de l’Acier (FFA).

French exports of flat and long steel to countries outside the EU28 declined by -34.2% year-on-year in April to 104,000 tonnes. Flats exports decreased by -33.6% to 93,000t, compared to 140,000t in April 2019. Longs exports declined by -38.9% to 11,000t, compared to 18,000t a year earlier, the association reveals.

In January-April French long and flat product exports to non-EU countries also decreased on-year, by -24.8% to 109,000 tonnes/month. Exports of flat products fell by -24% on-year to 95,000 t/m, while long products exports declined by -30% to 14,000 t/m, the association concludes.

Spanish special steels supplier Sidenor has opened negotiations with local trade unions to apply a flexible temporary layoff plan for the entire workforce in Spain, Kallanish learns from local sources.

The company wants to agree a plan that could remain in place until the end of 2021, and have the flexibility to use it when needed as long as demand remains under pressure in Europe.

The company is mainly supplying the automotive sector and has been impacted by the slump seen in this industry since last year, which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Local sources note that Sidenor is producing at around 50% of its capacity on average across Spain.