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READING REDEFINED ...
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IRON & STEEL REVIEW
December 2009

Welding Technology: a good past, encouraging present & excellent future
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SAIL is Presenting Partner of Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Hockey India (HI) today announced The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) as the Presenting Partner for the Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010, to be hosted by India in March 2010. The event will now be referred to as the Hero Honda FIH World Cup, presented by SAIL.
VIEWPOINT
Welding Technology: a good past, encouraging present & excellent future
Welding plays an important role in the development of human society and mankind as a whole. One of the indexes used for measuring the prosperity of a country is the per capita steel consumption. Higher the production of steel, the greater is the role of welding. The revolution in design of power sources and improvement in processess will be the call of the day.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Siemens VAI: Dedicated to growth and excellence
Over the years, Siemens VAI has grown to become the single largest engineering and plant building company for India’s metals industry. Today the organisation employs 700 professionals who contribute their technical expertise and project-management competence to high-profile projects across the country. The course has been set for more: Siemens VAI is taking steps to continue on its successful path and make the most out of
the potential that lies in India.
Advanced and reliable drive systems for the plate industry
In the metals industry there are two significant trends in drive technology: On one hand, the range of different
versions in machinery and plant construction is continually increasing – this is the reason that drive solutions must be highly flexible and scalable; on the other hand, customers from all sectors of industry are demanding solutions that are perfectly tailored to their requirements and easily handled. For the success of a heavy plate rolling mill, the main and auxiliary drives, in combination with the mill stand main motors, play a key role. The crucial demands placed on drives and motors technology are therefore high-dynamic and high-accurate response of the control system and high overload capability, smooth running, maximum availability, service friendliness, and seamless integration into higher-level automation systems.
Reducing environmental impact of continuous annealing lines for automotive industry using innovative technologies
Fuel prices and general concern about environment is motivating steel makers to elaborate higher quality steel grades with even higher productivity and quality ratio. In P.R. China or India, where industrialization is lifted by the development of the manufacturing industry, steel applications and consumption is strongly increasing. At the same time, steel is a product with high-energy consumption, meaning each rejected ton at any step of the metallurgical elaboration amounts to high waste, directly impacting environment. Applied to the Automotive Sector which is addressing the highest standards, manufacturing quality of lines processing flat carbon steel is of the utmost importance to limit environmental impact. This document is dealing with root factors for reducing environment impact of Continuous Annealing Lines supplying the automotive industry.
Siemens VAI : Emerging Successfully from Global Market Turbulence
September 30, 2009, brought to a close a challenging fiscal year for Siemens VAI – a year that saw a dynamic growth market practically wither away. Although well-filled order books went a long way toward sustaining its business, Siemens VAI has had to take a number of steps to maintain and grow its business during the difficult last 12 months. Werner Auer, CEO of Siemens VAI Metals Technologies, explains how the standardization of products, solutions and processes as well as a stronger commitment than ever before to energy-efficient and greener technologies is now fueling business.
Greater precision and flexibility in BF charging: Start up at Tata Steel of the Simetal Gimbal Top charging
system as part of the re-built ‘C’ blast furnace
Since end of September 2009, the re-built blast furnace ‘C’ at Tata Steel Ltd´s Jamshedpur works India has been operating with Siemens new Simetal Gimbal Top charging systems. Tata Steel became the world´s first steelmaker to utilize this new charging system on a blast furnace. From furnace fill, through blow-in to its current operating level of 2,000 tonnes of hot metal per day, the top charging system has already completed in excess of 28,000 skip charges without major interruption. The Gimbal Top provides Tata Steel with precise material distribution and the potential of infinite flexibility in the choice of charging patterns.
Powering Metal Processing in India Energy Supply and Power Distribution from Siemens
In addition to advanced energy supply and distribution equipment, Siemens continues to demonstrate exceptional
capabilities in the power sector. Several leading metal processing projects in India have been deriving significant
benefits from Siemens’ global technological expertise
COMPANY NEWS
ZKL NEW FORCE Bearing – An Engineering Marvel and a Champion of the Environment
ZKL NEW FORCE Design is the culmination of a comprehensive research work carried out at the ZKL Research Centre at ZKLVyzkum
a vyvoj, a.s – a member of the Czech Testing Laboratories Association. It has revolutionized the performance of a Rolling Bearing so much that a User can now run a bearing at a much higher speed under heavier loads for a longer period of time, and a Machine Designer can downsize his machines considerably so as to bring down the Weight–to-Power ratio considerably, thus minimizing the overall cost of his machines!
Before Ennore Coke Ltd, Indian industries, including the steel sector, depended on foreign coking coal. The
company has changed the trend effectively.
Ennore Coke Limited (ECL), engaged in manufacturing metallurgical coke, has been successful in meeting the demand for coking coal in India, prior to which, the Indian industries imported the required coking coal from countries such as China and Japan. Since its inception, the mission of ECL had been to satisfy clients in the best possible manner. To achieve that, ECL officials ensure an ethical business policy with the clients by complying with the existing laws, providing quality products consistently, creating a congenial work environment for the staff so that there is opportunity for optimum growth, prosperity and standards of life, looking for avenues for growth and chase superiority with a view to developing shareholders’ value and maintaining eco-friendly practices that help in promotion utilization of energy in a minimal way and promote healthy environment.
GEA Maschinenkühltechnik GmbH
GEA Maschinenkühltechnik GmbH is a company of the internationally active GEA Group AG. As one of the over 250 companies within GEA, GEA Maschinenkühltechnik belongs to the GEA Heat Exchangers segment. Experience, innovative ideas and continual further development have made GEA
Maschinenkühltechnik one of the leading manufacturers of thermotechnical components for power engineering and drive technology for more than 80 years.
Ion Exchange (India) Ltd. - Corporate Profile
Ion Exchange (India) Ltd.’s vision “To be the leader in our business which is so vital to people’s lives and the environment” drives the company’s endeavours to use technology innovatively to offer solutions to improve the quality of life and protect our earth’s most vital resources for a sustainable future.
Ion Exchange India’s total water management for the steel sector
Water is the lifeblood of a steel plant, if it doesn't flow, production stops. If process water quality changes, quality of production is affected.
EBNER establishes subsidiary in Mumbai
EBNER Industrieofenbau GmbH is a world leader in the supply of heat treatment technology for the steel, aluminum and copper base metals industries. In October 2009, EBNER founded a subsidiary in Mumbai, India in order to better meet the demands of the flourishing Indian market. EBNER India Private Ltd. will handle sales and service operations.
FOCUS
Energy efficiency in iron and steel industry in India
Iron and steel industry is one of the largest consumers of energy. The cost of energy accounts for nearly one third of the cost production of the steel. To be globally competitive in the era of liberalisation it is imperative to upgrade the design of equipments and optimize the operational parameters. The Indian steel industry is one of the unique steel industries in the world with different steel making processes. Steel production through recycling of scrap requires a much lesser amount of energy since reduction of ore is eliminated. In this sector energy consumption is high due to primitive design of furnaces and lack of know-how of energy efficient operations. In the developed countries about 50% of steel is produced through this route but in India it is relatively low due to low availability of scrap and high electricity charges.
Steel output increases continuously with steady rise in investment on fixed assets, sales, total profits & taxes
It is reported that China economic prosperity index in steel industry shows that in the third quarter of 2009, the prosperity degree of China's steel industry kept dropping, and both the price level and export of products were still depressed, but benefited from recovered national economy and increased active factors for economic operation, the steel output has increased continuously, the investment on fixed assets has risen stably and product sales income, total profits and total taxes have all increased.
Ernst & Young indicates, intact long-term fundamentals for Indian steel
India is a reputed name in the world steel industry; the country’s steel industry is catching up the pace and luring the steel majors from all over the world. The industry has gained strength from the strong Indian economy, and strong sectors like infrastructure, construction and automobile. Although India consumes less steel as compared to other Asian countries, it was ranked the fifth major crude steel producer in the world in 2008. Thus, the country offers vast scope for the steel industry in future.
Steel demand dependent on economic activities in construction & auto, the largest steel consuming segments
The global steel industry has long suffered from cycles of over capacity and shortages. In 1998, excess capacity was estimated to be 275 million tons (mt) worldwide. A significant portion of old capacity was thus closed, mainly in US, Japan and EU; although new capacity was also added as a part of modernisation efforts.
A new development in roll force measurement
The increasingly vast tonnage requirements of the modern market for high-quality rolled steel products has placed a premium on developing economical methods of measuring rolling mill separating forces. Reliable and continuous monitoring of these forces is required by the mill operator so that he can make timely roll gap adjustments not only to maintain the required thickness tolerances, but also to avoid damage to the mill.
An update of steel scenario in Europe
The EU economy is presently, may be with the only exception of the USA, the worst economy in the world. According to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, GDP declined by 2.5% in both the euro area 1 (EA16) and the EU27 during the first quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, In the fourth quarter of 2008, growth rates were -1.6% in the euro area and -1.5% in the EU27.
Reducing basic import duty on steel has made the industry vulnerable to international competition
In recent years, Indian producers have significantly increased their exports of finished steel products. Exports of finished carbon steel increased from 2.67 mt in FY’01 to 4.89 mt in FY’07, but declined to 3.5 mt in FY’09, primarily because of lower exports to EU, US, and the Middle-East. During FY’08, while steel imports increased 45.9% to 6.58 mt primarily from China, Germany, Japan, and Korea; exports declined 6% to 4.6 mt.
Metals, Music and the Metallurgist
When I was a 5-year old, guests arrived at home unexpectedly a summer afternoon and my mother, boiling water in the kitchen for cups of tea, asked me to fetch the bowl of sugar from the shelf. I jumped up in a hurry and dropped the bowl. It was made of bronze and the moment it hit the cement floor, there was this melodious sound, the sound of music, that played on for almost 30 seconds, interspersed with sonorous harmonics. It made me quite oblivious of the fact that I had spilt a half kilogram of sugar, until my mother came up and said something like "haven't you heard that before!" If I had, I had not until that moment made the connection that metals added so much musical joy to our life. The next year my sister returned from England with a piano and while I sat spellbound listening to the concertos of Mozart and Beethoven that she played, she would tell me that the
piano strings were made of fine wires of strong, tough, tempered steel.
Different product segments in flat & long products exhibited different growth patterns
Domestic saleable finished carbon steel production has grown at a 4-year CAGR of 6.6% between FY2005-09 to 53.46 mt in FY2009. Crude steel Production increased 1.2% during FY’09, compared with 6% during FY’08. However, production growth has declined sharply during the latter half of FY’09, resulting in overall domestic saleable finished carbon steel production increasing only 1.3% in FY’09 to 53.5 mt.
Significant increase in production & crude oil prices, substantive demand-push cost increases for iron ore, coal & energy affected all producers to varying degrees
The Indian steel industry ranks fifth in the world with crude steel production of 55.2 mt in calendar year (CY) 2008. The share of India in global crude steel production has increased from 3% in CY 1998 to 4.1% in CY 2008.
STEEL INTERNATIONAL
Tenova starts up two CONSTEEL® plants in South Korea
Two new CONSTEEL® plants have been recently started up by Tenova in South Korea, confirming the present booming moment of this innovative melting technology.
The two CONSTEEL® plants are part of the new 2.500.000 tons per year capacity Hot Mill complex located in Asan Bay and owned by Dongbu Steel.
Modernization extends Wuhan Iron and Steel's range of products: Siemens supplies main drives and new process automation for cold rolling mill
Siemens has received an order from Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Co. (Wisco), a Chinese steelmaker, to equip a coupled tandem pickling line in cold rolling mill no. 1 with energy-saving main drives. The Siroll CM process automation system will also be modernized. The order is worth several million euros. When the project is completed in September 2010, Wisco will also be able to produce highstrength steel grades in the plant.
POSCO set to ramp up rebound amid growing demand
Just looking at the numbers, POSCO's third-quarter showing might not seem too impressive. South Korea's biggest steelmaker posted 1.02 trillion won ($879.3 million) in operating profit in the July-to-September period, down 48.7 percent from a year ago.
STEEL TECHNOLOGY
ArCOS electrode regulation for electric arc furnaces
A short historical review shows that not long ago, the tasks of an electrode regulation system were limited to the movement of the electrodes and the maintenance of a predetermined set value. However, the recent further development of EAFs by furnace designers has resulted in numerous electrode regulation innovations, without which the operation of the new generation furnaces would be impossible.
HACOM Inline measurement of mechanical steel strip properties
More stringent quality requirements, higher production capacities and increased conservation of resources are important issues that must be continually addressed by providers of innovative industrial solutions. The steelmaking industry is confronted with ever stricter quality requirements, such as high-strength grades with optimum formability in order to meet the demands and high standards of today’s automotive supply industry.
Construction of State-of-the-Art Blast Furnaces Ongoing Worldwide – Paul Wurth Proving Leadership in Design, Technology and Project Management
This article gives an overview about some of the most modern Blast Furnaces being currently constructed around the World and which are going to be commissioned in the coming years 2010 and 2011.
SGS Technologies - Fuel shift to rich gases
SGS Technologies activities include i) indigenously making the burners & Combustion systems under technical guidance of Bloom Engineering USA ii) supplying & commissioning these burners & systems in India iii) marketing the burners to government sectors, semi government companies, public limited companies and even to private originations in small sectors iv) Providing solutions for improving productivity & energy saving.
State-of-the-art abrasive cutting machines to improve the operation of modern rolling mills
In order to respond to the increasingly demanding requirements of their customers and to remain competitive on the market, the steel mills have been facing pressure to adapt their operation procedures and production facilities to meet the most stringent criteria regarding product costs (to be as low as possible), production flexibility (as high as possible), product quality (as high and reliable as possible), etc. This also concerns the hot rolling operations as one of the main processes in the steel industry.
Features of Steel Wire Rods Used for Valve Springs
Valve springs for automobile engines are required to have high reliability with regard to fatigue. In this paper, the effects of defects such as non-metallic inclusions, surface flaws and decarburization of fatigue property of Cr-Si shot-peened oil-tempered wires with a tensile strength of around 1900 Mpa and some special measures to minimize these defects are described. For example, the fatigue life increases as the size of non-metallic inclusions decreases. Even the comparative shallow depth of surface flaws and decarburization that occur during processes such as patenting, descaling, drawing and oil-tempering affects the fatigue property. Furthermore, as the measure to minimize these influences of the defects, the effects of compressive residual stress applied by shot-peening are described concerning spring fatigue property. The fatigue life increases as compressive residual stress increases due to preventing crack propagation from the surface.
REFRACTORY
Isothermal Sections
This installment of Phase Rules highlights the construction and utility of isothermal sections. Isothermal sections are actually a different “look” at a ternary phase diagram where the temperature is fixed at a desired temperature or isotherm. Although such diagrams are especially useful when considering containment of a liquid at a constant or relatively constant temperature, a series of isothermal sections can be constructed as well. Of course, a series of isothermal sections would miss some of the specific details, such as invariant reaction temperatures or state changes, but it would still provide a record of the equilibrium in the system.
An evaluation of some Mud Gun Masses from medium integrated steel plants , and a comparison with a product developed at VRL Bangalore.
The Tap Hole is an integral part of the Blast Furnace unit, in the Pig Iron production process of any Steel Plant. It is well known that Tap Hole mixes play an important role to maintain the stable operation of the blast furnace Recently there has been an increase in requirement for high production through the stable operation of the blast furnace, whereby it is necessary to ensure a reliable plugging of the tap hole, and a stable and longer time for tapping of hot metal.
REFRACTORY & RAW MATERIAL
What affects erosion resistance of refractory castables?
Refractory castables are commonly used to provide erosion resistance at the working temperature. In the aluminum industry, for instance, they are mainly presented as linings in aluminum hydroxide calciners. In fluid bed stationary calciners, hot transfer lines and cyclone separators have to withstand erosion of particles conveyed at approximately 30 m/s and temperatures as high as 1200ºC [1]. Similar conditions are found in cyclones and catalyst transfer lines of petrochemical cracking units [2], where plastic refractories and castables are used. To reduce the maintenance costs and the risk of unplanned production stopping, refractory castables with improved erosion resistance are required.
FERRO ALLOY
Indian Ferro Alloy Industry - Growth Despite Constraints
Ferro Alloys are used as additives in steelmaking as deoxidants and as alloying agents. These are added in steel production process not only for de-oxidation but also for grain size control as well as for improvement in the mechanical properties of steel. Depending upon the process of steelmaking and the type of steel being made the requirement of Ferro Alloys varies widely.
INDIAN STEEL
Steel unlikely to recover significantly until mid-2010
Measures to encourage consumer spending and the massive infrastructure programmes planned across the globe hold the potential to stimulate recovery in the metals industry, but audit and consulting company Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s (Deloitte’s) manufacturing industry group has warned in a new report that the steel sector is unlikely to see the benefits until late 2009, at the earliest. “You could call it a rolling start,” says Deloitte’s consulting director, Claude Martin, of the recovery in the metals sector.
Indian Galvanised Steel Industry – An Overview
Galvanised plain and corrugated steel sheets (GP/GC Sheets) are valve added products that are sturdy, light weight, bright in appearance, corrosion resistant and environment friendly.
Galvanized steel is basically zinc coated products and includes a range of hot-dipped and electro galvanized steel. The function of the zinc layer is mainly three fold.
Better Days Ahead of Indian Steel Industry
Despite a sharp downturn of the global steel industry in 2008, which as per ‘World Steel In Figures, 2009’ published by the World Steel Association (WSA) saw a decline in global crude steel production of 1.84 percent from 1351.3 million metric tonnes (mmt) in 2007 to 1326.5 mmt in 2008, India’s production of crude steel went up by 3.95 percent from 53.1 mmt to 55.2 mmt in the same year. While apparent steel use in the global steel industry dropped by 1.37 percent from 1214.8 mmt in 2007 to 1198.1 mmt in 2008, India’s apparent steel use rose by 6.26 percent from 49.5 mmt to 52.6 mmt in the above comparative periods.
PRODUCT / MARKET
Imatek announce second 100KJ DWTT installation in Korea
Imatek has recently completed the successful installation of a DWT40-100 Drop Weight Tear Tester (DWTT) at Hyundai Steel in South Korea. This follows the first installation in Korea of a similar high capacity machine at POSCO Steel in 2004. With both machines providing impact energies of up to 100,000 Joules, these are believed to be the highest capacity instrumented DWTT machines installed, worldwide, by any supplier. This latest success at Hyundai therefore represents a major achievement for UK based manufacturer Imatek and a milestone in the materials testing industry.
FACE TO FACE
The global crisis has failed to dampen the spirit of economic growth as well as that of steel sector in India
The group’s entire business has been recast and we now provide one stop solution to our clients for equipments, technology, maintenance, training and audit. The focus on tailor made solutions led us towards innovation…We also now offer, our customers more energy efficient and environment friendly solutions… We are quite confident that as the aspiration levels of middle class continue to rise in India and China for consumer durables, auto and other steel products more and more value added downstream units will have to be set up and that is where our business growth will come from, said Jean-Marc Kohlgruber, Chairman, CMI FPE LTD. in a recent exclusive interview with Iron & Steel Review.
A compact organization, Universal Gear progresses towards Rs50 crore turnover by 2013
Working at the helm of Universal Gear Industries & Engineering Works, the pioneer in manufacturing hot rolling mills and accessories in Eastern India, Mr. Vishal Kapoor, MD, strongly believes that consistent effort on providing superlative quality products and high performance has gained the company long standing customer relationship for a decade. Following are the excerpts of the interview of Mr. Kapoor in response to an e-mail questionnaire sent by Iron & Steel Review.
IRON ORE
India’s iron ore exports to slump as demand dries up
India’s iron-ore exports will slump as China, the world’s largest consumer of the steel- making raw material, reduces purchasing after stockpiles rose. Demand has dried up since the last week of February, according to a spokes person of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries. Indian iron ore prices have fallen by $15 from $85 a ton in February this year. The number of ships waiting to unload imported iron ore at ports in China surged 50% in February from a month earlier due to lower demand, Scotia Capital Inc. wrote in a report.
WORLD STEEL INDUSTRY
Steel industry seeks answers on recovery prospects - Supply discipline remains the key for price
The tortuous question of when ailing steel demand might recover from the global economic downturn is likely to dominate talks at an industry gathering. High profile speakers for the bi-annual industry gathering including Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and the chief executive of the world’s top steelmaker ArcelorMittal, will also seek answers on whether US stimulus will revive consumption.
AUTOMATION
Status of automation and information technology in steel industry
The modern world is built on steel. Steel is the cornerstone of every country's economic development plan. Steel has become an indispensable part of life in both developing and developed countries. The world has witnessed a tremendous growth in the production and consumption of steel, which could also be seen as an indicator for economic prowess. Steel Industry is one of the core sectors in any economy and consumption of steel is usually a good indicator of the stage of economic development of any country.
State-of-the-art automation in steel plants
Level 2 provides production scheduling and tracking facilities that allow the steel-shop manager to coordinate the production route through all the process areas. Production requirements are entered in the form of a Production Order, during production, the scheduling of the orders is continuously readjusted in response to the actual status of production. The control system is designed to provide a full integration with all the process areas of the steel plant, including the rolling mill, and to interface with Plant existing systems in order to exchange production schedules and reports.
STEEL AUTOMATION
Energy Intensity in Iron & Steel Sectors-Bridging the Gap through Instrumentation & Automation Technology
The production of Indian iron & steel industry, today stands at 55 million tpa, and has grown to this sizeable volume with contribution from integrated public & private steel plants, secondary steel makers, rerollers etc . This sector is also poised for a dramatic change in the forthcoming decade with plans to raise production to 100 million tpa by 2015.
Russula’s furnace control method saves up to 15% fuel
Historically, the control function of a reheat furnace was simply to supply a heated product (billets, blooms, slabs, ect.) to the rolling mill using sufficient air and fuel. With the increasing cost of fuel and the increasing need for consistently heated products, it has become more important to understand what is happening inside the furnace in order to create a more efficient process.
IRON ORE BENEFICATION
Dry Coal Jigging – A suitable alternative for Indian Power Coals
According to the predictions of economists, the Indian Economy is expected to grow at a minimum rate of 6 - 7%, even with a worldwide
recession. One major factor that could hinder the economic growth would be a shortage of available power.
PEB SOLUTIONS
Steel solutions need to be explored more
Multicolor Projects (India) Ltd. specializes in manufacture, supply and erection of (PEB) Pre-Engineered steel buildings. MPIL pre-engineered buildings are custom-designed to meet exact requirements using steel structures, plate welded H/I beams, roofing/cladding steel profiled sheets, “z” and “c” sections/channels, single skin and insulated sandwich panels and other building accessories such as doors, windows and louvers. MPIL has its own PEB manufacture plant that spans over 200,000 square feet at MIDC Tarapur, Maharashtra. This plant deals with various pre-engineering fabrication processes such as manufacture of high tensile H/I beams, cold roll forming, roofing, cladding, and other steel value addition processes. MPIL has production capacity of 120,000 tons of structural steel per year. MPIL is also JSW Steel Limited’s Authorized service provider.
STEEL INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Strategies for revival and growth of Indian steel industry
Then came the economic melt down which has put a serious brake on the growth path of steel industry across the globe, and India is not an exception. The melt down is an effect of the Sub-prime mortgage crisis that broke in USA and spread across the globe (Annexure- 1). The crisis that erupted has developed into the largest financial shock since the Great Depression, influencing heavy damage on markets and institutions at the core of the financial system (International Monetary Fund (IMF), 2008). There has been “demand collapse” coupled with price crash. Accordingly, fate of the green-field projects is not clear at the moment. The brown-field projects are going on at a slow speed.
WORLD STEEL
Emerging nations to expand steel capacity following rise in demand
Global steel output in 2008 was 1.3297 billion tons, a drop of 1.2% over 2007 and the first-ever decline in the past two decades since 1998, according to statistics released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) recently. Overall, the whole industry is still at an alltime low and the global demands for steel could contract 10 percent. In face of low prices and low demands for rolled steel, major global steel firms trim production, reduce employment and postpone their investment, and steel production will continued to be slashed in these firms in 2009.
SEMINAR & CONFERENCE
Strong interest in national pavilions at bauma 2010
At bauma 2010, International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines, Construction Vehicles and Construction Equipment, there will be more national pavilions than ever before. At the current stage in planning, national pavilions from 11 countries are being organised for the next event.
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