ITA LATEST NEWS
A very busy last three months of 2009 for the ITA
The ITA was active in many regions of the world in a very hectic final quarter of 2009, sponsoring and exhibiting at Tubotech in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Tube Southeast Asia in Bangkok as well as operating information stands at Metal Expo in Moscow and Fabtech in the USA.
ITA members at anniversary drinks reception at
Tube Southeast Asia 2009
Additionally the association, in conjunction with BORU, co organised its major biennial technical conference, Pipe & Tube Istanbul 09 in Turkey. At the Sao Paulo, Bangkok and Istanbul events the ITA took the opportunity to provide members with enjoyable occasions to celebrate its 30th anniversary. These were in addition to receptions held earlier in the year in the UK and Russia. In total over a third of the ITA members were able to celebrate the anniversary in person.
Istanbul conference delegates enjoy
30th anniversary social event at Binbirdirek Cistern
The Tubotech exhibition has certainly grown in importance since the ITA first became the main international sponsor in 2004 and having been instrumental in introducing Messe Düsseldorf to the event in 2007 as co organisers with responsibility for international exhibitors. Tubotech 2009 recorded a 35% increase in exhibitor space with the international sector double the size of the 2007 show.
Such is the size and influence now of Tubotech that it is undoubtedly the most important tube and pipe industry trade fair in South America and has earned its status as a world class event. In total 320 exhibitors from 15 countries participated and more than 16,500 visitors were attracted to the exhibition. The next edition will run from 4-6 October 2011 and in an exciting new development there will be a concurrent wire and cable exhibition, WiCab.
Tubotech 2009 was very well supported
The ITA enjoyed a successful three days at Tubotech generating much interest in membership from South American tube and pipe engineers. Many members enjoyed an anniversary drinks reception on the ITA’s booth on the middle day of the exhibition.
By comparison Tube Southeast Asia 2009 was a more modest affair in terms of the number of exhibitors and visitors. Cut-backs in company travel budgets had undoubtedly played a part. Notwithstanding this the quality of visitors was actually higher than for the 2007 exhibition in the ITA’s experience and a very satisfactory number of enquiries was secured. Nearly thirty members attended a celebration party on the ITA booth to commemorate the association’s anniversary.
At Metal Expo in Moscow in mid November the ITA shared an information stand with its industry partner Messe Düsseldorf. Although the exhibition was slightly smaller than the previous edition the visitor numbers were surprisingly high. There was a good, representative number of Russian tube companies exhibiting and the ITA was able to establish a number of excellent new contacts in the local industry.
The Fabtech exhibition in Chicago, which took place in the excellent McCormick Center from 15-18 November 2009 proved to be as durable as ever despite the problems faced by the North American industry. There were more exhibitors than at the previous event although the overall space was down as exhibitors sought to reduce their participation costs. On the opening day, a Sunday, visitor levels were surprisingly high and these were maintained on days two and three.
One thing is certain: in the last three months of 2009 in particular the ITA clearly justified its claim to be a truly international association.