Representatives of 7 national steel distribution associations met in Brussels on July 10 and 11.
On July 10, an exchange of views took place with Daniel Guinabert, the new director general of Eurometal, the European steel distribution association. Given the diversity of national accents as well as the wide variety of languages, practices and economic environments, cooperation at European level is a major challenge that requires a lot of work.
The six-monthly meeting of July 11 between seven neighbouring Western European steel distribution associations allows for an update between colleagues on the main issues on which each association is working. Besides, the usual bench-marking exercise is carried out to compare the opportunities and problems arising in the different countries and determine if they could be similarly addressed.
From left to right in the picture :
Christophe Lagrange, secretary general Belmetal - Belgium
Norbert Thumfart, president WKÖ (ARGE-SMD) – Austria
Jörg Feger, head of research BDS – Germany
Andreas Steffes, secretary general SSHV-ASCA – Switzerland
Rob Greve, general manager Koninklijke Staalfederatie – the Netherlands
Roberto Gonzales, president UAHE – Spain
Michel Julien-Vauzelle, president general manager FFDM – France
Johan Rosseel, president Belmetal – Belgium
Daniel Guinabert, director general Eurometal