The Walloon iron and steel industry taking the future in its stride

Nefertiti could have been Walloon…

Imagine a sumptuous residence on the banks of the river Meuse some 6000 years ago. What would have happened if she had clumsily dropped her kohl in the foyer? In the morning, among the cinders, the first steel manufacturer in history would have discovered a red nugget, the first copper ingot. Legend and history would have come face to face in Wallonia …

But legends aside, 6000 years on, the plethora of metallic objects around us are the tangible landmarks of the technical advances made by man.

Behind this proliferation of ferrous materials is an industry, the iron and steel industry, which flourished in the Walloon Region. Iron ore has been worked in Wallonia since Roman times and we can still find the remains of several hundreds of mines. Much later, in 1822, coke was first smelted in Seraing. From then onwards, blast furnaces sprang up in Hainaut, around Charleroi, in Liege and in the communes of Ougrée, Seraing, Tilleur and Grivegnée,

The Walloon iron and steel industry came to be regarded as an example of the radical evolution of industrial expansion. Thanks to coal (the French word “houille” was coined in Wallonia), the region geared up to become the 2^nd industrial power in the world after England. In fact, despite the protectionism of neighbouring states, in 1833 Belgian industry boasted 5 times more steam machines per inhabitant than a country such as France. It also exported them to over 25 countries.  

...the present…

The Belgian metal and materials industry currently processes around twenty metals, divided into three categories: base metals (aluminium, copper, tin, zinc, pewter), precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.) and special metals (germanium, cobalt, indium, etc.). Companies produce either « raw metals » in the form of ingots, billets, etc. or « semi-finished » products (wires, bars, sections, tubes, sheets, etc.). The sector employs around 17 200 persons.

Over the past few years, far-reaching structural changes have affected the sector: the globalisation of the international market, shifting of the growth sectors and of the demand towards foreign markets, delocalisation, the development of new materials or substitution products and the growing infidelity of the large customers. The climate is far from euphoric. However, in Belgium the sector is characterised by the massive presence of SME! 85% of Belgian foundries, for example, are SME and most of them have adapted and stood up well to the difficult context. As a subcontractor, the foundry industry for example plays a strategic role and its markets include the car and mechanical industry, the construction industry, civil engineering, the offshore and defence industry, art moulds, precision parts for the electronic industry, medical applications, etc. The low overheads of the SME, the potential of the local market, their flexibility in adapting to external conditions, innovations or market expansions are the strengths that have allowed them to maintain, or even to build a leadership position.

There is no doubt that today the iron and steel industry calls on a large number of suppliers and subcontractors with increasingly cutting edge skills. This has triggered several companies to set up in Wallonia. They concentrate on handling, packaging and industrial hopping, on laminating, liquid steel flow control, on the construction of furnaces and the manufacture of metallic parts, cast parts and components for electronic automation and IT, of ventilators and blowers, burners and valves, etc.

In 2003, for example, activities relating to the manufacture of construction accessories reported a growth in the value of their deliveries. As for the foundries, they are booming on the international market in the field of mining and cement manufacturing and the manufacture of aluminium wheels. They are usually divided into three types:

The initial transformation of the metals, which covers a series of activities downstream of the iron and steel industry:

• foundries, wireworks, manufacture of tubes and sections, forging and stamping.
  
• Light metallic products: from the staple to radiators as well as metallic packaging and sheet processing activities.
  
• Heavy metallic construction: metallic frames and structures, boiler equipment and industrial pipes.
  

...challenges...

To face up to the challenges of tomorrow, the sector will have to adjust to the evolution in steel prices, the evolution of the construction market, the fire regulations in industrial buildings, the temptations of delocalisation towards low-wage countries and, above all, will have to start putting the undertakings made by Belgium in the field of greenhouse gases into practice.

Agoria, the multi-sectoral federation of the technological industry, is working hard to anticipate these challenges. It is informing companies about the evolution of the European iron and steel market in order to allow them to stock up in the best possible conditions and avoid delocalisation by contributing towards improving the environment of the companies. It is also encouraging companies to step up the search for new products that can help to reduce the greenhouse effect. It has also defined three other important challenges that the sector will have to take up: maintaining and boosting the current competitiveness levels, the creation of networks within the sector and heightening awareness of the sector among potential customers and technical schools, not forgetting the need to attract a qualified workforce.

…the future

In the same spirit, the iron and steel industry cannot escape the rule of specialisations. Within this framework, the Walloon Region is carrying out a vast operation to develop technological training. In order to obtain qualified personnel, it has improved the image of this sector and facilitated access by increasing the range of training courses and technical teaching.

Three Technifutur skills centres have been set up in Liège. Technifutur Productique (metrology, computer aided design, mechanics, digital control machining, electroerosion), Technifutur Assemblage (welding, sticking, sheets, pipes, boiler equipment, non-destructive control, aeronautics, material know-how, treatment of thermal surfaces, destructive control, etc.) and Technifutur Electricité et TIC (e-business, e-learning, database processing, graphics and Web publishing, Internet, freeware, office automation, programming, security, etc.). Alongside these centres, the CRIF-WTCM, Centre for Scientific and Technical Research in the Metallic Manufacturing Industry, serves as the laboratory for the iron and steel industry.

The Walloon skills centres propose modern training methods. Cutting edge equipment, combined with an interactive teaching approach given by professionals, are made available to the personnel of companies in order to deepen or widen their skills, to teachers, students and children who can learn more about the world of industry.

Thanks to a permanent monitoring of evolutions in the various branches of the profession and the attempts made to match the qualifications of workers to the needs of the companies, these centres pass on the skills of the professions of excellence of tomorrow in the Walloon Region.