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Sustainability the cornerstone of IMOA AGM
25/09/2023
IMOA was pleased to welcome 182 attendees from 56 member companies to their 35thAGM in Santiago, making it the largest event since 2011. During the member-only event, six new members were ratified, taking the association’s membership to 70 organisations.
Following the successful event, Secretary-General Eva Model said:
“One key highlight, which came through in many of the presentations over the two days, is the essential role molybdenum plays in many existing and new applications, particularly when you consider the increasing need for sustainable applications and practices.
“This was certainly the sentiment of Alvaro Fuentes’ AGM address, who kicked off the presentation program. As General Manager at KGHM Chile, he shared the importance of different sustainable practices, designed to minimize the environmental footprint of mining operations. On a similar sustainability theme, General Manager of Sierra Gorda S.C.M. Tomasz Piwowarczyk’s focused on the importance Sierra Gorda places on ‘Green molybdenum’ by using 100% seawater and 100% renewable energy in their mining operations.
“Annie Landfield Greig, of Four Elements Consulting, shared her insight into the challenge of climate change and the increased pressure being placed on businesses to accurately calculate and report on carbon footprinting, both at an organization level and product-level. Annie also highlighted the importance of IMOA’s work in collating LCI data since 1999 and its role on the ICMM working group which is updating its 2015 multi-metals LCA harmonization guidance document.
“Water preservation is another key sustainability metric. And yet countries across the globe lose hundreds of millions cubic meters of water daily from preventable and costly water loss, much through service line connections. It was therefore uplifting to hear fromlong-term IMOA consultant Gaetano Ronchi on how molybdenum-containing Type 316 stainless steel partially corrugated tubing (SPCT) is helping to address the issue. Tokyo alone saves approximately 500 million USD per year from reduced leakage and maintenance with stainless steel service lines. On the back of this and other Asian references, Gaetano gave us a detailed account of the work being done in Italy by Team Stainless on the adoption of SPCT. Currently, four Italian utilities are planning or evaluating larger Proof of Concept trials with several hundred SPCT connections with two moreutilities in the pipeline.
“Hardy Mohrbacher gave an enlightening presentation on how advances on molybdenum alloying and in the development of Super-HSLA steels, are critical in vehicle manufacture, from flat steels used in car bodies and chassis applications to Super-HSLA steel in seat tracks and potentially in EV battery cases. Lower costs, superior performance, light-weighting, and sustainability properties are amongst the reasons why molybdenum will remain an essential alloying element in steels used in BEV and ICE vehicles.
“Always a favourite of attendees, Markus Moll of SMR and Jim Lennon of Red Door Research shared their reviews of the demand side and market outlook respectively. Despite some challenging macro-economic conditions, Markus reported on SMR 2022 data indicating growth in many sectors, most notably aerospace and defense and building and construction. In his own words “the beauty of molybdenum, is that there are so many different first and end use segments, giving stability in the demand for molybdenum”.
IMOA’s market development work continues to deliver positive results. For example, an IMOA co-developed ‘super-HSLA’ steel was introduced to the European market and SPCT proof-of-concept trials are planned in four Italian water authorities. The HSE committee continues to respond in a timely manner to the changing regulatory landscape, conducting scientific research to enable regulatory decisions to be based on sound science.
Eva Model concluded:
“It has been another successful year for IMOA. I am excited for the coming year as we continue to build on our drive to deliver for our members and encourage more organizations to join our global community.”
General information for media
IMOA is a non profit trade association, representing the majority of the molybdenum industry worldwide. It works to raise awareness about the unique properties of molybdenum, its beneficial effects on materials performance, its safety in use and its contribution to sustainable development.
Molybdenum is added to alloy steels to improve strength, toughness, hardenability and weldability for numerous applications in the automotive, shipbuilding, construction, mining, chemical, oil & gas and energy generation industries. In stainless steels and superalloys, it improves corrosion resistance and high-temperature performance and finds uses in many industrial applications. It is also used in a variety of products from catalysts and lubricants to pigments and paint.
IMOA has a strict antitrust compliance policy which delegates of all meetings are required to observe. All such meetings are observed by legal counsel.
For more information please email the communications team at media@imoa.info.
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