After a long pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, trade fairs could take place again, at which ARMATURY Group could not be missing.

ICCI Istanbul

In the middle of March, a traditional exhibition called ICCI Istanbul 2022 took place in Turkey. Since the central theme of the exhibition was energy, Adam Bajer, Business Director of the Energy Department, and Daniel Přibyla, Sales Director West, Eastern Europe and Overseas, also participated in this exhibition on behalf of ARMATURY Group.

"The exhibition was focused on a wide area of power segment. Here the trend of renewables was also evident, accompanied by many discussions concerning solar power plants and other alternative ways of generating electricity. For us, the discussions dealing with geothermal power plants were clearly interesting. This method of generating electricity is very popular in Turkey, and it is enhanced by the great potential of resources directly in Turkey. We managed to establish contact with the Turkish EPC, which has a turnkey construction of such geothermal power plants in its portfolio," Daniel Přibyla evaluates the current trends.

At the exhibition, representatives of ARMATURY Group met several clients who are active on the local market and closely cooperate, for example, with ŠKODA DOOSAN POWER, which is an important customer and business partner of ARMATURY Group.

HYDRO Strasbourg

Representatives of the Power Department Daniel Přibyla and Vlastimil Vitásek, headed by their director Adam Bajer, went to Strasbourg, France, in April for the largest hydropower event held in Europe. The exhibition and conference called HYDRO is held every year, but due to covid measures it has been canceled for two years in a row.

At this exhibition and conference, manufacturers meet with operators from the field of hydropower and use this platform to exchange experience and get information about new world trends in the hydropower. ARMATURY Group is one of the leading European manufacturers and distributors of industrial valves for this segment. Traditional markets where it supplies hydro valves, especially shut-off valves and ball valves with lever and weights, include Norway, Turkey, Austria, but also exotic Philippines, Uganda, Rwanda, Honduras, Guatemala, Chile and others.

Mission in Kazakhstan

Together with representatives of other Czech companies, ARMATURY Group participated in a highly specialized Mission of Suppliers of Technologies for Metallurgical Plants to Kazakhstan. Major Czech exporters presented their cutting-edge technologies and products to the most important metallurgical plants there. ARMATURY Group was represented by Ján Puffler, Sales Manager of the Metallurgy Department.

"I evaluate the whole journey positively, both from the point of view of the organization by CzechTrade and from my own perception. The main figures about this trip: Kazakhstan is almost 40 times larger than the Czech Republic. Therefore, it is not surprising that I completed almost 19 000 km in eight days, of which more than 7 000 km were just in Kazakhstan, 11 flights by planes and one nine-hour journey by couchette train," Ján Puffler describes the mission and continues.

"During five working days, we visited eight companies that are engaged in any form of processing, production, mining or distribution of iron, steel, dyed metals, etc. Tours of the plants and bilateral negotiations with representatives of these companies took place in a number of cities, such as Almaty, Nur-Sultan (former Astana), Pavlodar and Aktobe. For ARMATURY Group, Arcelor Mittal Temirtau, located near Karaganda, was clearly the most interesting business partner. The metallurgical plant in Temirtau is practically the only metallurgical plant processing pig iron in Kazakhstan. It has three functional medium-sized blast furnaces and one preserved reserve. Given that small deliveries of metallurgical valves have already taken place in the past, I see great potential in other deliveries," says Ján Puffler.

Kazakhstan, as the 9th largest country in the world, has a huge mineral wealth. On the territory of the country, there are several metallurgical plants that process the extracted mineral resources. Regarding the environmental code, by which Kazakhstan committed large plants to reduce the emissions produced and greening production, this is also linked to investments in the renewal of equipment and optimization of production processes. As part of this mission, a visit will take place to the country's key metallurgical complexes.