Annual report

ITA CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2011/2012

Chairman's Report for 2011/2012 at 33rd Annual General Meeting on 28 March 2012

2011 was a prosperous year for ITA sponsored technical conferences. The first one was “Yokohama Tube & Pipe 2011 in Osaka”, which was jointly sponsored with JSTP (Japan Society for Technology of Plasticity). It was extremely successful despite the difficult situation after the North-East Japan earthquake & tsunami catastrophe. More than 180 participants including 125 Japanese enjoyed the technical papers compiled by Professor Kiuchi as well as the tube/pipe market trend in not only Japan but in Europe, China and Brazil.

The second one was the “Pipe & Tube World Conference 2011”, which was held in Dusseldorf, mainly sponsored by SMS/Tube Dusseldorf and several companies and organizations. Both were highly appreciated and attracted total audiences of over 350 delegates.
During 2011 the ITA participated in and supported several exhibitions in Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow, Bangkok and Sao Paulo. All these key market events enabled the ITA to further increase its global profile and influence.

ITA membership has remained steady at 750 members despite the difficult market conditions. There have been a number of cooperate memberships taken out by tube/pipe organizations since this category was reintroduced at the end of 2010.

We understand that this year’s Tube Dusseldorf will have record exhibit space and that for the first time the combined Tube/Wire Dusseldorf space will exceed 100,000 square meters. This most important event for our industry continues to thrive and will be attracting visitors from all over the world. There are three other important exhibitions supported by ITA taking place this year. Tube Russia in Moscow in May, which is already sold out; Tube China in Shanghai in September which is most likely set to be larger than the 2010 edition; Tube India in Mumbai in October, now combined with Wire & Cable India.

In closing, I would like to thank all members of the association for the considerable support and encouragement I have received throughout the past year as chairman. In particular, I would like to thank our Executive Secretary Phillip Knight for his huge support over ten and a half years.

Unfortunately in view of on-going health problems, he retired end of February this year. Mr Peter Byrolawsky, who has been a member of the EMB and IEMB since 2004, will take the place of Mr Knight and act as Executive Secretary.  Mr Knight has graciously agreed to assist Mr Byrolawsky.

Tsutomu Nakata
Chairman
International Tube Association
28 March 2012

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TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT

Technical Management Committee (TMC) Report 2011/2012

S. Loynes (Chairman);
A. Sedlmaier, Dr .C. Jackson, M. Bull, Prof. M. Kiuchi. M. Pollard, R. Natarajan

The two conferences in 2011 were very significant and successful for the ITA. They were joint efforts with different organisations from of our tube world bringing variety, colourfulness, and breadth to our technical events. It was refreshing that the next generation was involved and making a very significant contribution.Not surprisingly therefore, this years' prizewinners for the best technical paper are both young men.

We have introduced a range of commercial papers and' overviews to our conferences: to add a new breadth to our knowledge of the tube industry, keep us up to date with world economics and how it affects our businesses. Another important benefit of these conferencesiIs networking, a vital part of our business. We feel this is so important that in future conferences there will be more time allowed for this useful practice.

Our first conference in 2011 was a joint symposium with JSTP (Japanese Society for Technology of Plasticity) in Osaka. Japan, in June. The devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami meant that the conference was moved from Yokohama to Osaka in order to secure the event. The quality of the papers was excellent: the organisation very professional and a credit to the organisers. The ITA enjoys its association with the JSTP and we hope to continue in the future.

The second conference was our bl-annual flagship event in Europe, "Pipe and Tube World Conference 2011", 'Technology Updates and Markel Projections'. The event was held at Messer Dusseldorfs Congress Centre in Germany. ITA joined forces with the German Steel Tube Association and the European Steal Tube Association to focus the conference on large diameter pipes, OCTG, and pressure tubes. Dusseldorf is a tube and pipe manufacturing area and the conference attracted many local technologists. Klaus Welters, of the German Steel Tube Association was a significant help in creating a huge success. We will be returning to Dusseldorf for future conferences. Our sponsor SMS Meer generously hosted an evening with refreshments in their local workshops where it was interesting to experience the manufacture of such huge pieces machinery. The factory visits were to the local pipe making facilities of Vanourec Mannesmann and in the aftemoon to Europipe.

In 2012 we have conferences together with the TPA in Nashville, USA. and in Mumbai, India the day before the Tube India three day exhibition. We strive to maintain high technical standards from our speakers to make the conferences interesting and refreshingly different. We want to attract the next generation of tube makers and to introduce new tube making technology for our audiences.

Stephen Loynes
TMC Chairman
28 March 2012