The gardens of Tenryuji temple, in the Arashiyama
district of Kyoto, built in 1339.
With over 700 delegates from 32 countries and a record number of presentations, the world’s premier refractories event, UNITECR 2011 Congress, took place in Kyoto, Japan 30 October-2 November.
IM was there to mingle with the mix of leading experts from all aspects of the refractories business, although one must admit that the geography of the Kyoto International Conference Center certainly challenged attendees’ navigational skills.
The slogan of this year’s conference was “Refractories technology to sustain a global environment”. Eco-refractories and energy conservation through efficient refractory use were common themes through the opening plenary and subsequent technical sessions.
In his opening presentation, “Development and evolution of the Japanese steel industry”, Norio Katsuyama, executive vice president of Nippon Steel Corp. underlined the importance of co-operation between refractory material suppliers and...