Last month in Oviedo, Spain, the mood was as dark as the rain which inundated the region of Asturias and the V National Congress on Raw Materials, Machinery and Refractory Installations organised by Spain’s National Association of Refractories Manufacturers (ANFRE).
For the whole industry, it is clear that even though the refractories market has shown some signs of stabilisation and even limited growth towards the end of 2009, the way to recovery will require time and patience. Above all in Europe.
As each of the presidents of Belgium-based Federation Europeenne Fabricants de Produits Refractaires (PRE: European Refractories Producers Federation) and Spain’s National Association of Refractories Manufacturers (ANFRE) revealed, it is obvious that the process will be slower in Europe than in other regions.
In an interview with IM, Robin Schmidt-Whitley from PRE and Julio Mazorra Folguera from ANFRE explained that the industry was still going trough...