The Hanover Messe is Europe’s largest industrial trade fair. Every two years, industrial companies gather in Germany for this week-long event.
As part of its rapid expansion in Germany, Filame is taking part in this trade fair with AWEX, showcasing its unique expertise in the manufacture of precision metal parts.
Filame is taking part in Hannover Messe, which will be held in Hannover from 22 to 26 April 2024.
After exhibiting at Global Industrie in Paris at the end of March, Filame is continuing its European expansion by exhibiting at Germany’s largest trade fair for industrial subcontracting.
Filame will be pleased to welcome you on its Stand F13 in Hall 8 in the AWEX collective.
Come and discover our know-how.
In Europe, the German market remains very weak, with an overall decline of 5% compared with the same period in 2023, due in particular to a fall in the automotive market. This decline could reach 25%.
As demand remains weak, pushing prices down – despite a small increase of 40/tonne in March – there will continue to be a risk of steel mills closing capacity in order to maintain a certain price level. This type of closure is obviously likely to handicap a future recovery in the event of a sharp increase in demand.
Against this backdrop, steel and stainless steel prices have remained stable at very low levels. Alloy surcharge prices followed the same trend, with a slight upturn in March.
Filame will be taking part in the Salon Global Industrie in Paris from 25 to 28 March 2024.
Together with the Hanover Messe (22 – 26 April 2024 – which Filame will also be attending), Global Industrie is Europe’s largest trade fair for industrial subcontracting.
Filame will be delighted to welcome you to its Stand 6C50 in the metal forming village.
Come and discover our know-how.
While the third quarter saw a downward trend in steel prices, it seems that the low point has been reached.
The fourth quarter saw a slight upturn in prices. In Europe, this was mainly the result of production cutbacks at major producers such as Arcelor Mittal and Tata Steel, which shut down several blast furnaces for maintenance and inspection. This reduction in production volumes is also evident at global level, with output down by 5% in China.
This limitation of volumes has had its effect. In Europe, this was coupled with specific measures in certain countries, such as Germany, to boost the competitiveness of their industry and thus maintain prices.
There has also been an increase of around 8% in motor vehicle production, particularly in Germany and China, which has supported price rises.
In the stainless steel market, the downward trend in alloy surcharges continued. However, stainless steel prices remained relatively stable over the period because the rise in steel prices offset the fall in alloy surcharges.
For the beginning of 2024, depending on the commodity, the price of a tonne of steel will vary between €740 and €890 per tonne.
Filame specialises in the mass production of parts on automatic presses using multi-step tools.
Filame’s design office designs, manufactures and maintains all the tools that Flame uses for its production. Filame has thus developed unique know-how that enables it to guarantee its customers the production of the most complex parts.
For a major industrial group, Filame produced a tool for its 320 T automatic press, measuring 1600 * 800 mm and weighing around 2.5 tonnes. This complex tool is used to make U-shaped rolled folds along the entire length of the part (200 mm), while at the same time making multiple cuts and folds inside the part.
You can watch this video.
The trend in steel prices was fairly uneven in the third quarter of 2023.
Rising interest rates, persistently high energy prices (even though they have fallen since the crisis in the summer of 2022), the automotive industry, which appears to be stagnating, and the construction industry, which is in decline, are leading to a downward trend in demand for raw materials and therefore for steel.
Furthermore, economic forecasts have been revised downwards in Europe and in most European countries, with Germany even threatening recession. In addition, the fall in activity in China has meant that many Chinese producers have tried to export more at lower prices. These increased imports have not yet been cleared through customs, as the quotas for the third quarter have been used up, but they will be in the fourth quarter, which could further depress steel prices.
Other Asian countries are experiencing the same situation, which is not improving demand for steel in general.
Prices per tonne of steel are therefore falling, to around €850 – €890 per tonne. These are obviously base prices, as there are supplements for different qualities, thicknesses, widths and lengths.
Prices for alloy surcharges for the various categories of stainless steel are also trending slightly downwards. This drop varies according to the quality of the stainless steel.
In view of these factors, it does not seem likely that prices will rise in the fourth quarter. They may stabilise if the stimulus measures taken by certain countries begin to bear fruit.
Filame has just joined the MecaTech cluster, the Walloon Region’s Mechanical Engineering competitiveness cluster (https://www.polemecatech.be/).
Thanks to the diversity of its metalworking skills and its experience in numerous industrial sectors in Belgium, Europe and around the world, Filame will be able to provide the other members of the network with cutting-edge expertise to support their development and innovation projects and thus actively contribute to the development of the Walloon industrial eco-system.
As part of the rapid development of its activities in certain high-tech sectors (automotive, aeronautics, etc.), and in order to respond even more quickly to the ever more demanding quality requirements of its customers in these sectors, Filame has strengthened its automatic control capacity by acquiring a new Keyence 8010 dimensional measurement system.
This measuring device, which complements the capabilities offered by Filame’s 3D inspection benches (Aberlink) for precise inspections, allows instantaneous and simultaneous measurements of several parts with a resolution of 2 µm.
This system allows for the simultaneous measurement of up to 300 dimensions in a matter of seconds without the need for positioning or referencing of surfaces and creates immediate inspection reports with automatic calculation of Cp and Cpk and trend curves.
Steel prices were more or less stable in Europe in the first quarter.
However, due to certain incidents at the level of certain producers (blast furnace fire at Arcelor Mittal and planned maintenance at Tata Steel), there is a risk of a decrease in available tonnages. Arcelor has announced a reduction of 1 million tonnes.
This has already led to some increase in delivery times, but it cannot be excluded that supply will fall short of demand, which will have an effect on prices. We are already seeing a slight upward trend of between €50 and €100 per tonne in April compared to March. We must not forget to add to this the energy surcharges which vary from producer to producer between €100 and €200 per tonne.
Chinese production is currently almost entirely absorbed by the domestic market and Chinese companies will do everything in their power not to let prices fall. The same is true in Turkey, where domestic demand is strong after the earthquake and reconstruction needs.
As far as alloy surcharges for the various stainless steel grades are concerned, prices are also relatively stable. There was a slight upward push in February and March but in April prices are back to the level of January prices. These elements coupled with the evolution of steel prices do not currently indicate a likelihood of a strong increase in the short term.