More exhibitors and sales for the event
“Great satisfaction”. This mood accompanied the fifth Made in Steel, the conference and exhibition of the Italian steel industry, which was held on April 3-5 for the first time in the halls of fieramilanocity. This was explained by Emanuele Morandi, managing director of the company with the same name that organizes the exhibition.
“Made in Steel 2013 took place in a very difficult macroeconomic context: as is well known – Morandi continued – Italian economy is in recession, and the steel industry has been experiencing a complicated situation for the last 5 years: from the peak in 2006-2007, domestic steel production went down by more than 4 million tons (-15%) and apparent consumption decreased by more than 40%. In addition to this, the financial situation and payments are getting worse”. Within this framework, “Made in Steel recorded performances against the trend: sold exhibition spaces grew by 4%, the turnover of the event increased by 25%, like the number of exhibitors”. During the three days of the exhibition, there were “10,900 visitors, less than in 2011 mainly because of the decrease in Italian operators, the ones that have been more deeply affected by the crisis. However, we can say with satisfaction that the percentage of foreign visitors increased clearly, reaching almost 20%. Therefore, internationalization measures put in place worked well, especially attracting European operators coming from the EU (66% of all foreigners present), Europeans from non-EU countries (22%), Asians (8%) and Africans (2%). The challenge for the future will be to further increase the presence of foreigners at Made in Steel, for both the exhibition and in terms of visitors at the event”.
“Meeting opportunities offered by Made in Steel, business opportunities and opportunities for exchanging views were very much appreciated by exhibitors and visitors – Morandi concluded -, and I hope this was a good chance to discuss current issues and the prospects of the Italian and international steel industry. In the 24 conferences held during Made in Steel, there was a constant exchange of views, experiences and ideas, which are a fundamental element to build the future of a strategic sector like steel”.
Our next meeting with Made in Steel “will be in 2015, when we will aim even more radically at internationalization and closeness to the end customers”.