On October 13-15, 2021, the Congress of the European Federation of Refractory Manufacturers (PRE)
took place in Madrid, hosted by the Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Productos Refractarios,
Materiales y Servicios Afines (ANFRE) and co-organizer of PRE.
For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 70 PRE members,
executives from the refractory industry and representatives of national associations from all over
Europe had the opportunity to meet in person at the 3-day Congress to discuss relevant information
on the refractory industry at European level.
The Congress began on Wednesday, October 13, with a meeting of the PRE Executive Committee,
where administrative and preparations for congressional meetings have been finalized.
The following day, a meeting was held within the PRE Economic Committee. Statistical data for the
years 2020 / 2021 on the production of refractory materials, raw material prices and freight costs
were presented. Subsequently, the President of PRE presented the awards to representatives of the
plants participating in the competition on improving work safety. The next item on the agenda was
four parallel workshops on the circular economy, digitalisation/industry 4.0, security and climate
policy and trade.
After the meetings and workshops as part of the social program organized by ANFRE, a tour of
Madrid took place, which ended with a gala dinner in the evening.
Friday 15 October was dedicated to the PRE General Assembly. Conclusions of the workshops were
shared and the awards for Circular Economy were presented to the representatives of the winning
plants. The meeting also allowed Cerame-Unie to present the key actions the team is currently
leading at European level. Topics included trade, chemical issues, environment, research, and
sustainable finance. Finally, a vote took place where Patrick Bikard was elected for a second mandate
as PRE President and Christian Meyre was appointed as Vice-President.
The meeting was concluded with a teaser for the 2022 PRE Congress which will take place in Vienna
(Austria) on 1-3 June 2022.
Award Winners:
- Safety:
- Gold: Radenthein Plant – RHI Magnesita,
- Silver: Foseco Hengelo – Vesuvius,
- Bronze: Seville Plant – Alfran
- Circular Economy:
- Gold: Veitsch and Mainzlar – RHI Magnesita
- Silver: Třinec – Vesuvius
- Bronze: Muelheim – Vesuvius