On June 19-21, 2024, another PRE Congress was held in Hamburg. The main theme of the Congress was to provide talented staff for the refractory industry. Simone Schmetzer presented a lecture on young employees and their expectations in an attractive form. The discussion was attended by young employees recently employed in plants in Germany. This topic was also the subject of workshops, which were held in three groups: 1. “Career path expectation”, 2.Employer branding”, 3.” Effective communication strategy and tools”.
The second leading topic of the Congress was the issue of emissions. An interesting presentation was delivered on “Climate protection and future prospects”, and Arcelor representative discussed the measures taken at the Hamburg steelworks to use renewable energy and direct iron reduction (DRI) , to produce “green” steel.
During the General Assembly of PRE, the current state of regulations in relation to the refractory industry and the actions taken by PRE were discussed.
Statistical data on the production and sales of refractory materials in 2023 based on materials provided by PRE members were presented. Production fell by approx. 10% and the value of sales by approx. 8%. The balance of foreign trade in refractory materials in the European Union was positive; exports exceeded imports by nearly 2.5 times. Since 2020, the upward trend in the balance sheet in terms of value has been maintained.
The Congress in Hamburg was highly appreciated by the participants.