Page 3 - ITAtube Journal 3 2024

Foreword
Dr. Gunther Voswinckel
President ITA
Dear colleagues from the tube and pipe industry,
dear readers of the ITAtube Journal!
Geopolitical turbulence is still a constant companion in 2024. While our
thinking and actions over the past 70 years have been guided by the
assumption that international trade strengthens peaceful coexistence
in the world, we have been painfully reminded in recent years that
this maxim is unfortunately becoming less and less valid. This painful
realization is now having a direct and significant impact on the future
strategic direction of our industry. While quality, delivery time and
cost were once the only decisive factors, geopolitical and logistical risk
considerations are now increasingly coming to the fore. All sources
of supply are being scrutinised and one can only hope and warn that
international trade will not suffer too much as a result.
After a record year for our industry in 2023, the first six months of
2024 have been characterized by a calming of the tube and pipe
market.
The transition to greener and lower carbon production is now a key
challenge for the industry. The impact on cost increases is unevenly
distributed around the world. Regional differences in energy prices will
have an impact on the current landscape of the energy-intensive steel
and tubes industry.
However, disruptive times also create new opportunities for economic
success. New markets such as carbon capture, utilization and storage
(CCUS), new hydrogen transport networks, electromobility and pro-
ductivity improvements at production sites as part of the transition to
more environmentally friendly plants offer opportunities that should
be seized.
Through conferences, our ITA website and social media, the ITA
contributes to the exchange within and the sustainability of our tube
industry. As a further service to our tube industry, the ITA has pub-
lished the ITAtube Buyer’s Guide as a global directory for the tube
industry to provide a platform for easy matchmaking between buyers
and suppliers.Buyer`s Guide – ITA International Tube Association
(itatube.org) (Gerne mit QRcode) We look forward to seeing you at our
international ITAtube Conference in Houston in June 2025.
We wish you all a peaceful holiday season and a prosperous and
healthy year 2025.
Yours faithfully
ITA Team
ITAtube Journal December 2024 3