04 10 04Record increase in foreign trade visitors SMM 2004
Closing report SMM 2004
HAMBURG 2/10 - With a record increase in foreign trade visitors,
and with orders running into billions (euro), the SMM 2004, the 21st
Shipbuilding, Machinery and Marine Technology International Trade Fair
Hamburg, closed its doors after an extremely successful five days. A
total of 42 000 trade visitors (2002: 40 000), some 43 percent (2002:
33 percent) from abroad, came to the Hamburg Fair site and gained a
convincing impression of the innovative power of the global maritime
industry.
Caterpillar op SMM.
Trade visitors from a total of 116 countries visited Hamburg
for the SMM 2004, most of them from the Scandinavian countries, the
Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the People’s
Republic of China and Poland. Large groups of visitors also came from
the Asian and North American shipbuilding nations. The great majority
of the trade visitors (70 percent) have a direct influence on
procurement decisions within their company.
With 1 450 exhibitors from 50 nations, including 60 percent from
outside Germany, and an extensive international supporting programme,
the SMM 2004 surpassed the previous event by a considerable margin and
provided fresh proof of its leading worldwide position among the
maritime trade fairs. Which is why Georg Wilhelm Adamowitsch, Federal
Government Maritime Policy Coordinator and State Secretary at the
Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, said after his visit to the
world’s leading fair for the shipbuilding industry: "We can only win in
global competition if we promote innovation and progress. Here at the
SMM: this is the Innovation Mecca!"
A similar picture was drawn by Jürgen Kennemann, Chairman of the SMM
Board and Chairman of the Management Board of Aker shipyards in Wismar
and Warnemünde: "The excellent situation in the global shipbuilding
industry was reflected in the mood of the SMM 2004. The leading
shipbuilding fair gave an impressive demonstration of the technological
potential and the innovative power of shipyards and equipment
suppliers."
Werner Lundt, General Secretary of the VSM (Shipbuilding and Ocean
Industries Association), was also delighted at the success of this
year’s fair: "The SMM 2004 as the leading fair has set new records for
exhibitors and visitors. Conversations focused not only on negotiating
new contracts, but also – increasingly – on issues connected with
financing the high level of orders and the continuing keen competition
in view of the rapid growth in shipbuilding capacity."
For Dr. Frank Schubert, Chairman of the Shipbuilding and Offshore
Equipment Supply Industry Group within the VDMA (German Engineering
Federation), the positive mood of the shipbuilding equipment supply
industry was characteristic of the whole course of this "once again
extremely successful SMM".
Frank Leonhardt, Chairman of the VDR (German Shipowners Association),
confirmed this assessment: "The SMM 2004 offered new answers to
shipowners’ current questions in relation to profitability, safety and
communication technology. The technology standard was considerably up
on the previous SMM."
Once again the SMM 2004 was also a centre for world trade
New shipbuilding contracts at the SMM 2004 were mainly recorded among
European shipyards. For example, the Italian shipbuilding group
Fincantieri, Admiralty Shipyards and the Schichau Seebeck Shipyard in
Bremerhaven signed contracts for numerous new vessels running into the
billions. For Vladimir L. Alexandrov, General Director of Admiralty
Shipyards, the SMM 2004 was also the appropriate setting for
celebrating the shipyard’s 300th anniversary.
The Chinese shipbuilding groups CSIC and CSSC nevertheless reported
initial negotiations and very interesting discussions with European
shipowners about more than ten new vessels, especially large container
ships. Cao Zhi Teng, Vice President of China Shipbuilding Trading Co.,
Ltd., a member of the CSSC group, expressed his regret that it had not
been possible to make any further agreements with "numerous new
potential customers" at the SMM 2004 because the shipyards were
completely booked up until 2007. Similar "problems" were also reported
by Li Ben, Deputy General Manager of China Shipbuilding & Offshore
International Co., Ltd., which belongs to CSIC.
Not only the shipyards were able to open up their order books:
equipment suppliers also negotiated numerous projects to the point of
signing.
Uwe Franz, General Manager, Kongsberg Maritime: "With our electronic
products such as the integrated bridge we met with a very good response
from the extremely well qualified trade visitors, around 60 percent of
whom came from abroad in our case."
Frank Soccoli, Marketing Director of Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine,
reported on numerous serious inquiries about the new bridge system and
on wireless communication systems.
Bernd Schell, Marketing Manager of Raytheon Marine, was not at all
surprised at the success of the SMM 2004 or at the large proportion of
shipowners from all continents among the visitors: "Where else could
shipowners find out more quickly and easily about the new technologies
than at the SMM?"
Axel Rothe, Sales Director in Siemens’ Industrial Solutions and
Services Division: "The fair was a complete success for us. At the SMM
2004 we took orders worth double-digit millions, including further
orders for pod drive systems."
Engine manufacturer Caterpillar chose the SMM 2004 for the first joint
appearance of the two brands Caterpillar and MaK. Roberto Dionisio,
General Manager of Caterpillar Marine Power Systems: "The SMM with its
international public is the best platform for us to show that we can
supply single-source drive systems for sea-going vessels."
Of the 50 nations taking part in the SMM, 17 presented themselves in official national pavilions.
"A great fair," enthused John Southerden, Director of the British
Marine Equipment Association (BMEA), looking back on the SMM 2004.
The Japanese Marine Equipment Association (JSMEA) was also very satisfied.
At a seminar during the SMM 2004, Mitsubishi presented two new
developments, an electronically controlled environment-friendly diesel
engine and a turbocharger. The Japanese company took home an order for
each.
Pim van Gulpen, Chairman of Holland Marine Equipment (HME), the Dutch
shipbuilding equipment suppliers association, which took part in the
SMM 2004 with 101 companies, was impressed by the great specialist and
decision making competence of the visitors: "The SMM is the most
important fair for success on the market."
Satisfied expressions were also the rule among the Danish maritime
equipment suppliers, whose presence was almost equally strong. Ulrik
Dahl, General Secretary of the Danish Export Association, said that the
SMM 2004 had exceeded all the exhibitors’ expectations, and spoke of
the "massive interest" displayed by very many Asian visitors in
particular.
Praise for the great competence of the visitors also came from Park Tae
Ho, Director of the Korean exhibitor Kangrim Industries Co. Ltd., who
said his company, like others in the Korean national pavilion, had made
many serious contacts.
With more than 130 congresses, conferences, meetings, workshops and
official receptions, this year’s supporting programme was particularly
large. It included, for example, the first meeting of the board of the
newly formed CESA (Community of European Shipyards’ Associations) and
the international congress WODCON XVII of the World Organisation of
Dredging Associations (WODA). The CIMAC Circle held its traditional
meeting during the SMM. And the "ThinkING" programme run by VDMA and
VSM also met with a great response.
The 22nd International Shipbuilding Fair SMM is to be held in Hamburg
from 26 to 29 September 2006, when four new exhibition halls will be
available to the world’s leading shipbuilding industry fair for the
first time.
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