Editorial number 64

Are you ready for Tube2018? The most important show dedicated to tube and wire sector will take place in short in Dusseldorf: the North Rhine-Westphalia capital will welcome exhibitors and insiders with its rosy sunset over the Rhine and crowded streets full of opportunities of leisure and entertainment and, obviously, its breweries with their AltBeer and, of course, the Killepitsch. Will be the good time to celebrate the growth of industrial production, the resumption of exports in machine tools, the achievement by all economic indicators of the levels previous to the crisis.

Compared to November 2016, according to CECIMO’s survey, the industrial production increased by 3.2% in the EA, mainly due to the capital goods production that rose by 6.2%, the intermediate and durable consumer goods by 4.6%. January marked the transition from an economic recovery to a solid and lasting  expansion. According to the Winter 2018 Interim Economic Forecast of the European Commission, both the European Union and the Euro Area economies expect to watch their economies beholding a 2.4% growth rate in 2017, above the Autumn Forecast, which is the steepest rate in a decade. This expansion is likely to last for the next two years and register a 2.3% growth in 2018 and 2.0% in 2019. 

The bright expectations are fuelled by a continuously improving labour market, exceptionally high economic sentiment and favourable financial conditions for investment. In addition, OECD predicts a 3.6% growth for 2017 and 3.7% for 2018.

Will the economic expansion stand the protectionistic choices by the US President, Donald Trump? Will EU find common position on the response to the changes in economic politics by the US? How will Brexit influence the commercial balance beetween Europe and North America? 

Tube will not be the ideal moment to face these questions and to find original appoaches to their answers, but will be the right place fo find out their results. Tube Today will be present, as usual since 2004, you can find us in Hall 5 Booth H13 with some interesting news, first of all the final release of our new website. Please, come and visit us, in person during Tube2018 and virtually on our renewed website already on-line.

Read more inside this issue.

See you in Dusseldorf.