Page 18 - ITAtube Journal 1 2024

Market information
by Global Construction Perspective and Oxford Economics, entitled “Global Con- struction 2030”, forecasts an 85% growth in global construction output to 15.5 trillion by 2030, with three countries, China, USA and India, leading the way and accounting for 57% of global growth alone. Europe,
on the other hand, will reduce its pace of investment. There is room for additional production capacity for structural tubes, especially in India, to follow the market trend.
Most tube and pipe producers were able to report strongly improved economic figures in 2023. However, for European pipe pro- ducers, the persistently higher energy cost and the additional CO2 levies agreed to
be imposed by the European Community represent major challenges. Confidence in being able to compete on the world market in the future with these additional costs is dwindling among some tube producers. Some tube producers even reduce their engagement in Europe as a consequence hereto.
New upcoming market segments such as carbon capture utilization and storage as well as hydrogen pipelines will start requir- ing larger tonnages of alloyed tubes and pipes in 2025 and thereafter. In general, there is enough production capacity to serve even the increased demand for tubes and pipes for all market segments. Anyhow the trend to produce close to the custom- ers will have ongoing impact on the tube producer´s landscape. Raw material prices for the steel as well as the tube and pipe industry would seem to have peaked early 2023. Still markets are nervous with poten- tial for further volatility.
Further challenge may be imposed, if polit- ical measures to prevent climate change are not introduced in a balanced way, with possible consequences being the migra- tion of high energy consuming industries to lower-cost regions. Nonetheless, if the balance of supply and demand within the tubes and pipes industry is restored, price volatility can be expected to calm down.
The transition towards environmentally friendly tube production to produce carbon reduced tubes and pipes became increas- ingly a major task for the industry. Tube and pipe producers are converting their production facilities from gas to electricity. Simultaneously they improve their pro- ductivity, flexibility, and customer service. Innovative instruments such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Industry 4.0 are intro- duced in this context. So far AI has only been applied to analyse the enormous amount of data available to the industry, but self-learning AI solutions will further revolutionize the tubular industry.
Many technology suppliers have already reacted and enhanced their product port- folio with the addition of environmentally friendly and digital solutions.
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ITAtube Journal April 2024
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