Attendance records of ferrous and non-ferrous metal consumers updated at Metal-Expo'2023
The 29th International Industrial Exhibition "Metal-Expo'2023" was held on November 7-10 at the Expocentre Exhibition Center. This year the main event of the metallurgical industry) broke all records: it united 815 leading metallurgical companies; the exposition grew almost two times, exceeding 40 thousand m2, and was visited by over 30 thousand consumers of metal products from the construction industry, machine building, fuel and energy complex, representatives of transport, logistics and metal trading companies. A large delegation arrived from China - more than 350 companies took part in the metallurgical forum.
In 2023, all leading metallurgical and machine-building companies, as well as manufacturers of metal structures and metal products, will be exhibiting at Metal-Expo: Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), Severstal, NLMK Group, United Metallurgical Company, Metalloinvest Management Company, EVRAZ, Mechel, Novostal-M, Ural Steel, TEMPO, Akron Holding, Uraltrubprom, Ashinskiy Metallurgical Works, ELECTROSTAL Metallurgical Plant, Zlatoust Metallurgical Works, Aluminum Metallurg Rus, CMK, MMK-METIZ Magnitogorsk Hardware and Sizing Plant, Severstal-Metiz, Electrostal Heavy Engineering Works, Metallinvest Management Company, Byelorussian Steel Works, IMH, MCC-Steel, Southern Mining and Metallurgical Complex (UGMK), Ruspolymet, Tula Steel, VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, KUMZ, KUZOCM, Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant, Rusatom MetalTech, Krasny Oktyabr Corporation and many others. Several new brands made their debut at Metal-Expo 2023. For example, PromSort, a company that has accumulated over 5 million tons of grade capacity, took part in the forum of metallurgists for the first time. In addition, a new distribution network, Novostal-Market, was introduced.
Most exhibitors, both traditional and new, highly appreciated the professional composition of the audience. CEOs from major steel and metal trading companies participated in meetings with partners and consumers in person. Delegations ranged in size from 50 to 100 people, and over 4,500 specialists worked at the stands, including 1,000 Chinese attendees. Most of the exhibiting companies expressed satisfaction with the exhibition's substantive content, noted its effectiveness in fostering business development, and confirmed their intent to participate in 2024.
Over 50 events took place during the Fall Metals Week in Moscow with a significant increase in the number of visitors, compared to previous years. As an instance, the Coordination Council for Industrial Policy in the Metallurgical Complex led by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, V. Yevtukhov, held a meeting with the participation of all major metallurgical company leaders. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, steel production volume in the first nine months of the year reached 57.2 million tons, reflecting a 4.4% increase from the same period last year. The output of finished rolled products also rose by 3.2% to reach 48.3 million tons. Non-ferrous metallurgy also achieved excellent outcomes. Thus, high value-added non-ferrous metal production surged by 33% in the first nine months of this year compared to the prior year's period. This growth was driven by domestic consumption. The demand for steel products from the domestic economy grew markedly, increasing by over 15% or 4.5 million tons compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the consumption of pipe products rose by approximately 6%, or 0.5 million tons. The Russian metallurgical industry is currently confronted with a multitude of significant challenges, such as creating novel steel grades, increasing the output of high-quality mill products for utilization across various sectors, and replacing imported equipment and components.
The four-day Metallurgists' Forum saw fervent business activity as key companies from the steel sector held intense negotiations at their stands. For instance, Severstal's stand hosted over 200 negotiations and attracted more than 3,000 visitors. In addition, the "Together" client and partner community studio organized 32 live broadcasts. During these broadcasts, top executives talked about import substitution solutions, best industry cases, market development forecasts, and other relevant matters.
Metalloinvest and Lee Jun company, a Chinese equipment manufacturer for the mining and metals industry, entered into a technical partnership and collaboration agreement. Within this agreement, Lee Jun company will provide briquette presses for the hot briquetted iron production complex at Lebedinsky mining and processing plant and will also offer maintenance services.
Mutual cooperation agreements were signed between TSNIIchermet and United Metallurgical Company, as well as between TSNIIchermet and Lipetsk State Technical University. Also, Metprom Group, and Moscow Polytechnic University have established partnerships with one another.
TMK presented certificates to 69 official dealers representing the company's products in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. Dealer status gives the right to represent TMK's interests on regional markets in Russia and in a number of foreign countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Dealer certifications for 2024 will go to high-sales-volume companies that regularly collaborate with TMK member companies and meet other criteria. NLMK Group, EVRAZ, Severstal, Metalloinvest, and Severstal-Metiz held meetings with their dealers, customers, and partners.
Import substitution in the foundry industry and forging and press equipment, and the supply of refractories to metallurgical enterprises were the subject of discussion at round tables organized by the Union of Machine Builders of Russia and the Russian Steel Association. Under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, a meeting was held to discuss the Interindustry Program for the Development of New Types and Quality Improvement of Metal Products for the Automotive Industry.
The Russian Union of Metal Products Suppliers arranged a meeting of producers, suppliers and consumers of raw and rolled non-ferrous metals. The event brought together more than 80 managers and specialists from companies operating in the non-ferrous metals market. The attendees discussed the current state of the Russian non-ferrous metals market, near-term prospects and key growth drivers, interaction between producers and traders and quota issues, cooperation with the defense industry, and a number of other topical issues.
MISIS and Alliance Metallurgy Corporation hosted a conference on the potential use of artificial intelligence in metallurgy. Additionally, in collaboration with Ural Steel Management Company, they conducted a foresight session titled "Full Cycle Effects - New Priority in Strategic Infrastructure Creation".
The Russian Union of Metal Products Suppliers organized a meeting for manufacturers of galvanized and painted rolled products, which brought together over 100 steel mill managers, flat rolled product processors, and consumers of corrugated board, metal tile, sandwich panels, and other profile metal products.
The developers discussed the development of cold-formed reinforcing rolled products, in particular Bp-1 wire and B500C reinforcing steel, under the leadership of Novostal-M Holding. The meeting also addressed revisions to the existing regulatory and technical documents for the production of these rolled products.
During the forum, attendees from the steel construction industry reviewed the Association for the Development of Steel Construction's initiatives. They also convened for the 24th seminar on anticorrosion protection of steel structures and participated in the Industrial Advertising Today conference. Myths and Reality" was the theme of the conference, and the traditional round table on marketing discussed the changes that have taken place this year on the market of metal consumption and predicted the trends and structure of demand for 2024.
The champions of the "Main Event of 2023 in Russian Metallurgy" competition were presented with awards at Metal-Expo. In the current year, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works were granted an award for accomplishing the preliminary stage of the project for comprehensive repair of coke and chemical production. Similarly, United Metallurgical Company were given an award for executing the project for a pipe rolling facility with a potential to fabricate 500 thousand tons of seamless pipes annually at the Vyksa Metallurgical Works.
Award ceremonies were held for the winners of several communication contests including the Metal-Vision video production contest, the Best Corporate Media contest, and the Best Internet Projects 2023 contest for metallurgical and metal trading companies in Russia and CIS countries. These events enabled market participants to have in-person conversations and discuss current trends, showing the high effectiveness and demand of offline communication and event marketing. A video studio operated at the booth of Metal Supply & Sales magazine, the exhibition's official information partner. Numerous video interviews are accessible on the YouTube channel, as well as on the websites of the magazine and the exhibition.
Over the past year, various changes have been made such as investment plans, plans to reconstruct and technically modernize, logistics, supply and procurement, and personnel changes. In light of these changes, customers in the aircraft, shipbuilding, automotive, oil and gas, transport and energy sectors were delighted to be able to meet at the stands of their suppliers. Attendees at the exhibition were provided with the opportunity to thoroughly acquaint themselves with promising advancements, novel services, and innovative collaboration models.Direct communication between producers and consumers, showcasing industry expertise, exchanging experiences and forecasts, and discussing future plans will undoubtedly play a significant role in advancing the metallurgical complex and its related industries. The Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Metal-Expo, A. Romanov, reports that numerous companies have already reserved exhibition spaces for the 2024 event.
We would like to invite you to participate in the 30th anniversary of the International Industrial Exhibition Metal-Expo'2024, which will be held from 29 October to 1 November 2024 at the Expocentre Fairgrounds.
