At the committee meetings held on April 6, 2009 during the SteelOrbis Spring 09 Conference & 60th IREPAS Meeting in Athens, steel market players came together to express their views on the current state of the global markets.
As at previous SteelOrbis & IREPAS conferences, while the Raw Materials and Traders committees convened, two subcommittees met under the Producers heading, focusing respectively on Rebar & Wire Rod and on Billet.
After the committee meetings, Ugur Dalbeler, chairman of IREPAS and managing director of Turkish steelmaker Colakoglu Metalurji, delivered the opening speech of the SteelOrbis Spring 09 Conference & 60th IREPAS Meeting.
In his speech, Mr. Dalbeler remarked that, following the meeting last autumn in Hamburg, the current SteelOrbis conference and IREPAS meeting had attracted much interest due to the rise in optimism among market players.
Mr Dalbeler stated that the steel sector was undergoing structural change, as conditions were different compared to previous years. Stating that the market has been reacting well during this challenging period, Mr. Dalbeler added that the sector has experienced positive development recently, specifically compared to the November-December period of 2008. Advising his listeners not to give in to pessimism and to think positive, Mr Dalbeler affirmed, "We left the worst behind us."