Editorial Magazine 2020/2
COVID-19 AND ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY
The half-full glass
The world economic situation after COVID-19 pandemic is known and under everybody’s eyes.
What is not known is generally the way out.
Even if nobody has got a crystal ball, we can forget for the time being the negative effects on the aluminium and surface finishing industry and we can just direct our attention to the glass half full.
a) Many governments have issued convenient long terms bonus to companies also for new investments
b) In order to recover local economies, again many governments in Europe have decided to give to families “bonus”, and tax reductions for investments for refurbishing apartments and homes with systems for energy saving, including new aluminium windows with double glass.
c) Incentives are given also for electrical mobility, this means more aluminium used for cars (lightweight is a “must” for electrical vehicles) and for cars’ battery packs
d) the lockdown of the industry worldwide, including cancellation of exhibition and congresses in 2020, will be compensated by an intense program of events also for the aluminium industry in 2021 and this will for sure be an expected “wake up” for all operators in the extrusion, anodizing, coating and aluminium fabrication industry.
Governmental economic incentives are useful, but they are not enough: the need of an industry is mainly “innovation” in order to stimulate the companies to invest money in new more efficient equipment and technologies, and only this will make the economic wheel turn around.
Main international events of the first semester of 2021 will be the following:
- Metef: March 25 – 27, 2021 – Italy, Bologna
- ET’20: May 11-13, 2021 – USA, Orlando
- Aluminium: 19-20 May, 2021, Germany, Düsseldorf
- AluSurface: 24-27 March, 2021, Italy, Modena
As regard innovation, the 23rd AluSurface Seminar will be a “not to be missed” appointment: two days of technical presentations by experts of each sectors, including the famous “Judy Runge”, author of the “The Metallurgy of anodizing aluminium” who will present the latest studies about anodizing technologies and anodic layer properties.
At pages 47-48 the complete preliminary program.
The “half-full glass” is the positive expectation for “a wakeup call” also for our industry, with the hope that, after such great events, we are all ready “to run” again.
Walter Dalla Barba,
Editor and Chairman of the Aluminium Two Thousand World Congress 2022 and Alusurface 2021
