Metal-Expo’2014 offered new opportunities to market participants

Metal-Expo’2014, the 20th Jubilee International Industrial Exhibition with 650 exhibitors from 35 world countries was held on November 11-14 in Moscow. Around 30 000 users of ferrous and non-ferrous products from different industry segments including construction, heavy engineering, fuel & energy, transportation & logistics, steel trading, research etc. visited the event. The majority of exhibitors sum up their participation as highly efficient expressing intention to exhibit in the next Metal-Expo event.

The exhibition and the congress in 2014 brought together leading steel producers, tubes and hardware products manufacturers, non-ferrous metals processors, aluminium rolled products and alloys manufacturers, constructors, engineers, oil and gas men, and many more professionals from various industries. Metal-Expo’2014 exhibited the whole range of ferrous & non-ferrous products, the most state-of-the-art equipment and contemporary solutions. Metal-Expo’2014 was extended by three specialized expositions including: MetallStroyForum'2014, International Exhibition for Steel Products and Structures for Construction, MetallurgMash'2014, International Exhibition for Equipment and Technologies for Steel Industry and Metalworking, and MetallTransLogistik'2014 International Exhibition for Transportation and Logistics for Mining and Metallurgical Complex.

The traditional Metal Week in Moscow provides steel industry professionals a unique opportunity to meet with their partners, customers and contractors to know competitors’ strategies and discuss the latest steel industry news for every year new facilities are commissioned in Russia, new types of products are mastered, sales policies and commodities flows are changed, new employees are hired etc.

Among the biggest expositions were MMK, TMK, Severstal, Mechel, OMK, NLMK, ChTPZ, OMZ-Special Steels, Electrostal, Lysva Steel Works, UMMC-Steel, Krasniy Oktyabr, Rostov Electric Steel Works, Uraltrubprom, Zlatoust Electric Steel Works, Volzhsky Electric Steel Works, Motovilikha Works, TEM-PO, Ruspolymet, EZTM and many more manufacturers and suppliers of ferrous & non-ferrous products, steel products and tubes. The non-ferrous exposition included Kamensk-Uralsky Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant, Stupino Steel Company, Krasnoyarsk Steel Works, UMMC-Holding non-ferrous plants: Kirovsk, Kolchugino, Revda, Serbia Copper Tubes Plant, Uralelectromed, Katur-Invest, KUZOCM, as well as Artyomovsk Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant, MKM, Sevoino, etc. The leading steel products suppliers including MMK Trade House, Metallservice, Severstal-Invest, TMK Trade House, Mechl-Service, A GROUPP, Uraltrubostal, Metallinvest, Kontinental, Globus-Steel, Leader-M, Steelintex, Metinvest Eurasia, etc. formed a separate exposition to show the latest steel products supplies solutions.

The number of international exhibitors at Metal-Expo’2014 reached 320. Among them the number of exhibitors from India, Spain, Italy, and Kazakhstan grew considerably as compared with Metal-Expo’2013. The biggest international expositions were Germany: 62 exhibitors, China: 60, Italy: 55, Ukraine: 18, and Finland: 14. National pavilions from Spain, Finland, Germany, China and Kazakhstan exhibited the latest innovations and solutions. Metal-Expo’2014 international exhibitors consider the Russian market as highly potential and fast growing. “The Russian market is one of our top priorities. We have been here, are here and will stay here as long as possible”, said at Metal-Expo’2014 E. Brusini, Executive Vice-President, Danieli, one of the world leading engineering companies. The Russian steel industry will show consistent development in the nearest future increasing products quality and raising demand for engineering products. Despite the sanctions the exposition of European steel producers and engineering companies did not shrink. The European exposition included such world leading producers and engineering companies as: SMS Group, Danieli, GMH-Holding, ThyssenKrupp Mannex, Olimpia80, voestalpine Krems and many more. ArcelorMittal, the leading European steel producers has become Metal-Expo regular exhibitor. Merging of SSAB and Ruukki was announced at Metal-Expo’2014. For the first time Metal-Expo Organizing Committee awarded about 50 international companies at Metal-Expo’2014 Closing Ceremony gold and silver medals for weighty contribution in the development of scientific and economic cooperation with Russian companies.

Companies prepared very well for the event of the year in the steel industry. Leading steel groups were represented by big delegations (50—100 professionals) headed up by company leaders, heads of divisions and decision makers. “We consider the exhibition a perfect business platform to meet and negotiate with existing and future customers”, commented D. Gorshkov, Head of Marketing and Sales, Severstal, Russian Steel. More than 4 thousand professionals were working on stands during the 4 days of the exhibition. This is one of a few events visited by company leaders. P. Shilyaev, Director General, MMK, S. Toropov, Director General, Severstal, Russian Steel, A. Shiryaev, Director General, TMK, V. Markin, President, OMK, A. Fedorov, Head of the Board, ChTPZ, I. Guschin, Vice-President for Sales, NLMK, V. Tytsky, Head of Steel Division, Mechel, V. Skornyakov, President, Aluminium Products, V. Medvedev, Head of the Board, Metallservice Group and many more decision makers were working on their stands during Metal-Expo’2014 to meet face to face with their customers, find new sales markets, discuss ways of cooperation and conclude contracts.

Thus, an important agreement between TMK and MMK on the application of the formula of price calculation of wide sheets for big diameter tubes manufacture used in Gazprom gas main pipelines was signed at Metal-Expo’2014. TMK also granted its dealers authorized certificates to define the circle of suppliers to Russian, and the CIS regional markets in 2015. More than 100 delegates attended a conferences held by Severstal-Metiz and Alcoa for their dealers and end-users. Rusal discussed with its customers the state of things in the aluminium market. Evraz, Mechel and OMK initiated establishing of Steel Construction Development Association. Steel constructors attended seminar on light steel structures and a round table on ways of encouraging of sandwich-panels application. Among Metal-Expo e3xhibitors were manufacturers of individual types of steel structures (welded beams, bent shapes etc.) as well as ready-to-use objects such as Siberian Steel Structures Plant, Rosmetall, Ruukki Rus, Urals Steel Beams Plant, Apollo, Molodechno Steel Structures Plant, Kireevsk Steel Structures Plant, Agrisovgaz, Kurganstalmost, MMK-Profil-Moscow, Steelinvest, Severstal Steel Solution and many more.

Over its 20-year history Metal-Expo has become one of the best platforms for finding consolidated solutions to the most pressing problems of the industry. The congress part of the event included more than 50 conferences, seminars, round tables in the producer — dealer and producer — user formats. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation held a meeting of the Coordination Council for the Steel Industry attended by leaders of steel companies, associations, and institutions. A workshop of a working group on carrying out the Interregional Program on Mastering New Types of Products for the Automotive Industry was held during the exhibition. Many professionals also attended such events as Russian Metal and Steel Market, Zinc: Protection from Corrosion, Steel Industry and Freight Forwarding, Modern Technologies of Non-Ferrous Metals Products and Processing and many more seminars, round tables and presentations covering nearly all the facets of steel business.

Metal-Expo Organizing Committee awarded 3 projects in the nomination Best Event of the Year in the Russian Steel Industry:
- Severstal for commissioning Severstal Long Products Balakovo electric steel facilities;
- Kamensk-Uralsky Steel Works for accomplishing the first stage of Rolling Complex project on construction of aluminium rolled products manufacturing plant;
- TMK for fulfilling FQM investment project at Seversk Tubes Mill.

A number of companies were awarded Metal-Expo’2014 gold and silver medals for the best solutions, commissioning of equipment and technologies and mastering new types of products meeting the highest demands for quality. Since nowadays profession skills become more important, Metal-Expo as a platform for attracting young people to the real economy organized Future is Determined Today, a summit for young students and post- graduates. Some were even given monetary grants at the summit. In addition to that winners of contests for the Best Solutions for Use of Steel and Aluminium in Construction, Metal-Vision’2014, the Best Website in the Steel Industry etc. were awarded at Metal-Expo’2014. Such events turn scientific potential to the Russian steel industry. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary Metal-Expo team awarded more than 300 company leaders and steel industry professionals gold medals for personal contribution in the development of the exhibition.

The majority of exhibitors sum up their participation as highly efficient expressing intention to exhibit in Metal-Expo’2015, the 21st International Industrial Exhibition. Exhibitors established new business contacts, increased their competitiveness, balanced their sales and supplies policies, reduced costs, and adjusted their businesses to the market requirements. Metal-Expo’2014 became a launching pad into further business development for agreements and contracts concluded at the exhibition will be in force for the whole year.