The Hindu Business Line : Boom in global steel sector may boost CIDEX trade fairs

CIDEX Trade Fairs Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of the Germany-based Koelnmesse International and Messe Duesseldorf, is bullish on the success of its trade fairs on tube and welding industries currently being organised at the HITEX Fairgrounds here till Sunday.

Addressing newspersons after the inauguration of the trade fairs on Friday, the CIDEX Trade Fairs Managing Director, Dr Matthias Winter, said the trade fairs were expected to generate huge number of enquiries this time thanks to the boom in the steel sector across the globe.

As against 81 exhibitors from 11 countries who participated in the last trade fairs, the organisers, Tube India International and Essen Welding India, were successful in attracting 93 exhibitors from 14 countries, Mr Winter said.

Both the trade fairs would cover finished products, technologies and services from the respective areas - tube, pipe and welding technologies. A majority of (80 per cent) of the participants from the first edition have returned to the exhibition with latest product range and technologies and around 20 per cent of the participants were first timers, he said.

Many of the participants in the trade fairs said that they have bagged significant number of orders even before the beginning of these trade fairs for new technology and capital goods in the areas of steel, oil and natural gas, petroleum products, construction and automobile sectors.

Mr Raj Tiwari, heading the Tube and Cooper Plants division of the Germany-based SMS Demag, said his company, which recorded a business of Rs 100 crore during last fiscal, has bagged Rs 240-crore worth of orders from the Indian industry during the last couple of months. These orders were from major steel players including Tata Steel, Jindal, Bhushan Steels and Bhushan Steels and Strips, for both expansion and greenfield projects.

According to him, the Indian tube sector has not yet experienced a boom. With the major gas pipeline projects signed by the country with Myanmar and Iran expected to take off soon, the tube sector could witness a major boom from the end of this year or early next year.

Following a number of trade enquiries, Stappert Spezial-Stahi Handel, another Germany-based tube technology major, is now planning to open a representative office in India, its Export Director, Ms Martina Stover, said.

According to the Executive Secretary of International Tube Association, Mr Phillip Knight, the Indian steel industry is now keen on improving quality in a bid to compete with China, Russia and South America. Stating that the global steel, pipe and tube industry has been witnessing a dramatic growth, he said the Indian steel industry is also gearing up to meet the demand.

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