Industry experts from around the world traditionally use the exhibition – the tubing industry’s leading international trade fair – as a forum for consolidating and nurturing their business contacts and customer relationships. This year, the event's 1,028 exhibitors attracted some 33,000 visitors from 71 countries – an increase in visitor numbers of nearly 10 percent compared to Tube 2006.

Hydro used the opportunity to show off some of its newest innovations at the Düsseldorf Exhibiton Centre in Germany, which hosted Tube 2008 from March 31-April 4.

These included R744 solutions like Piflex and the new internal heat exchanger COAX.

Improvements on other products and services were also presented at Hydro's 52-square-meter stand, such as Calu. This is a special welded tube with a thin layer of carbon.

"We are satisfied with the response and the number of qualified inquiries that we received from potential customers. It shows that we are right there when it comes to developing tubing solutions for future automotive and non-automotive applications," says Hugo Ravesloot, who is responsible for business development for Hydro’s aluminium precision tubing activities.