Page 3 - ITAtube Journal 2 2022

Foreword
Dr. Gunther Voswinckel President ITA
Dear colleagues from the Tube and Pipe industry, dear readers of the ITAtube Journal,
We are still suffering from the consequences of the Corona pandemic and its effects on the supply of goods, especially from China, which is currently again in a Corona lockdown. This year we are experiencing another striking turning point with the Ukraine war. While our thoughts and actions over the last 70 years have been shaped by the assumption that international trade strengthens peaceful coexistence in the world, this spring we had to painfully realise that this maxim unfortunately has only limited validity. This painful realisation now has a direct and significant impact on the further strategic orientation of our industry. While quality, delivery time and costs were previously the only decisive factors, geo-political and logistical risk consid- erations are now increasingly taking centre stage. All sources of supply are being subjected to critical scrutiny, and one can only hope and warn that international trade will not suffer too much as a consequence.
Massive bottlenecks in the supply of energy, primary materi-
als and qualified personnel must continue to be feared. These supply shortfalls due to the corona pandemic and the Russian invasion into the Ukraine will lead to further price increases
and will have to be compensated by other pipe producers. Pipe prices have risen by more than 50% in this context. The increas- ing momentum in the realignment of the energy market contin- ues to lead to increases in demand for pipes. Markets such as USA, India, Europe and the Arab states are characterised by high demand for steel products as well as pipes. As a result, prices
for steel pipes in the USA and other regions have risen sharply. Some steel and pipe producers and engineering companies, who equip the steel and pipe industry with high-performance plants were able to massively increase their economic successes.
Despite travelling limitations caused by the Corona pandemic, the International Tube Association ITA contributed successfully to keep the exchange in our industry ongoing. The ITA, organ- ized several webinars in 2020, 2021 and 2022 for our tube and pipe industry. For the first time we arranged the ITA netForum which was established to substitute the finally cancelled tube show Tube 2020 in Düsseldorf. On top, with our tube market reviews we also participated in some webinars organized by other reputed organisations.
It is great to see, that our largest industrial event, the Tube Düssel- dorf 2022 show, is now taking place and offers our industry again the opportunity to meet and exchange the latest innovations.
Yours faithfully
ITA Team 3
ITAtube Journal June 2022