Steel Tech, Congress & Expo arrives at Bilbao Exhibition Centre from 19 to 21 October, with the aim of becoming Southern Europe’s leading international meeting point for the steel sector. Technological advances throughout the whole value chain and technological innovation in the steel industry will be the main features of the first edition of the event. The opening ceremony will take place on Tuesday, 19 October, from 9.15am to 9.50am, led by the Basque Deputy Minister of Industry, Mikel Amundarain.

The event’s programme will focus on innovation and technology within the iron and steel industry, and will be split into two sessions (morning and afternoon) each day. In total, the event will host about 20 talks that will begin with brief presentations by guest speakers and will end with a round table to openly debate the issue. These round tables will include the main clusters and companies of the sector and will discuss the most relevant conclusions of the talks.

Experts with an outstanding track record will participate in the Congress and address the major challenges and trends in the iron and steel sector. One of the experts taking part this year is Dr Hans-Willi Raedt, CEO of Prosimalys, who will open the event with a keynote speech on current trends in steel technology for forged products. Following his presentation, representatives of leading companies such as Gestamp, Thielmann, Windar Renovables, CENIM and Tubacex will take part in the congress sessions on the first day of Steel Tech. The effects of hydrogen on steel, design guidelines for new steels for transport, and steel storage will be some of the topics addressed during the first day of the congress. This day will offer a strategic vision of steel solutions and uses in strategic user sectors, such as construction, railway, automotive industry and energy. Presidents of associations and clusters such as the Basque Energy Cluster, Eraikune, Mafex and Acicae, as well as representatives of companies like Vicinay Marine Innovación and Enagas, among others, have already confirmed their participation.

The second day, 20 October, will focus on “Steel of the future & challenges”. The panel will include talks on the challenges faced by the dual digital and sustainable transition, such as smartisation, artificial intelligence, the circular economy – scrap recovery, recycling and management – and cybersecurity. The second day of the congress programme will kick off with a presentation by Carlos Alba, Global R&D-Chief Digital Officer of ArcelorMittal. IT engineer and expert in the development of Artificial Intelligence and its application in the iron and steel industry, Carlos Alba will offer a keynote speech on digitalisation and success stories in his company. Representatives of companies like Idom, Danieli, Celsa Group, Sarralle, Tenova and Sidenor, among others, have already confirmed their participation on the different panels.

Suppliers from different levels of the iron and steel sector’s value chain will participate in the exhibiting area at STEEL TECH. They will have a quality exhibition space where their products and services can be discovered. Some of the exhibiting companies are Idom, Sarrale, Hidroambiente – Elecnor, Harsco Environmental, GH Cranes & Components, Tata Steel Layde, Jaso Industrial Cranes, GHI Smart Furnaces, Bonak Coil Processing Lines S.L and AMV Soluciones. The business areas represented will consist mainly of steel production, hot and cold steel transformers, manufacturers and suppliers of machinery and equipment, components and spare parts, raw materials, service centres, technological centres and other services, such as waste management, cranes, machinery cleaning, among others.

Steel Tech will combine the congress, exhibition and networking areas all in one place. As part of the latter, the B2B meetings stand out, which will offer pre-arranged meetings between exhibitors, sponsorships and international VIP guests from countries such as Ecuador, India, Pakistan, Oman and Morocco. Most of these meetings will take place in person.

Additionally, on the evening of the 20th there will be a Gala Dinner for conference delegates, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and visitors. Here, the Steel Tech Awards will be given out. These awards are divided into two categories. One will acknowledge the efforts of a company that has helped boost the iron and steel industry, while the other will recognise the outstanding professional career of a specialist in the sector.

Steel Tech is organised by Bilbao Exhibition Centre and Siderex – Basque Steel Cluster, with SPRI as an institutional partner, in collaboration with UNESID – Union of Iron and Steel Companies, and with the Platinum Sponsorship of IDOM, Gold Sponsorship of Sarralle, and Silver Sponsorship of Olarra, Tecnalia, Metalia, and Harsco.