“2021 will probably be a year of slow healing for the complete industry. What I see is that the effect of LME on aluminium pricing was probably as important as the COVID-crisis”, Peter Vanvuchelen, Director Sales & Business Development, Hencon

AlCircle: How do you visualize 2021 for the global aluminium industry after the COVID-19 economic impact?

Mr Peter Vanvuchelen: It is very difficult to predict what will happen, and how industries will react, as a pandemic situation as COVID is a completely new situation for every one of us.

2021 will probably be a year of slow healing for the complete industry. What I see is that the effect of LME on aluminium pricing was probably as important as the COVID-crisis. We observed that since Q4 2020 (when aluminium prices equalled their old level) aluminium-industry started picking up projects again. My feeling is that we start to learn and live with the ‘new situation’ and that even our way of thinking and look at how to be productive will be changed profoundly and definitively, even after COVID has completely disappeared.  

AlCircle: What new solution or invention in service or solutions Hencon is delivering to the aluminium industry in 2021?

Mr Peter Vanvuchelen: Basically our activities are now responding to industries that are in survival modus: we are looking for solutions to help our customers through this tough year. A complete set of services has been set out for reducing costs on their existing fleet. All our customers can benefit from these measures.

Other customers are working behind the scenes on modernizing their operations, moving in the direction of the ideas of Industry 4.0. We are working together with them – mainly on automation projects, but also towards new financial and service demands.

The most important event for Hencon will be the official worldwide launch of the EVY. With this compact vacuum cleaner, able to vacuuming dust (including FINE dust) Hencon launches its first step into serial production. The reason is that we want to offer an affordable alternative for machines (like non-effective sweepers) that are not taking away the dust, one of the elements which are probably to be considered as the most harmful for health when working in the aluminium industry.

We have great expectations for the EVY, as the first orders are coming in already (although the machine will be officially launched only in May)

AlCircle: Could you please brief us on Hencon’s performance in 2020 and how do you project 2021?

Mr Peter Vanvuchelen: From a financial point of view Hencon performed in 2020 at the same level as 2019 (even slightly better). This was despite a substantially lower order intake. The reason for the good results is mainly due to the fact that our projects are usually stretched over 9-11 months. For this reason, payments – linked to milestones and respective deliverables - have never been disturbed and cash flow stayed on a healthy level. Besides this, we have sold considerably more spare parts than in previous years. Due to the low order intake in the three first quarters, we expected a kick-back effect in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, but thanks to new orders coming in (starting from September 2020), our financial situation has never suffered under the circumstances.

Therefore, we are blessed to say that we have been able to keep every soul on board and that we can guarantee continuity for our customers and stakeholders.

For 2021 we have some big projects in the pipeline and we see that several customers are catching up. On the other side, we face suppliers who have problems, a serious increase in steel prices, restrictions in travelling and other challenges. COVID is still among us, making 2021 another ‘interesting’ business year, making our forecasts for 2021 ‘moderated optimistically’.

AlCircle: What will be Hencon's focal point in terms of investment and expansion in 2021?

Mr Peter Vanvuchelen: As we speak we are setting up a HUB in the Middle East. We want to have a physical presence in the region to enable an even better service for our customers. COVID shows us more than ever how important it is to have an infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of our customers. We already have big fleets in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (and customers in Dubai, Qatar and Oman). Although we already have people in the region on our pay-roll, we are looking for a higher level of local integration by adding value to the local economy, creating employment opportunities and most of all making our customers happy with perfect serviceability.

The intention is to have our HUB up and running by the beginning of Q3 2021.

AlCircle: Which industrial sector, according to you, will drive the growth of aluminium in 2021?

Mr Peter Vanvuchelen: This is an excellent question at the eve of what will probably be a worldwide recession. Honestly, I don’t know the answer either, I can only guess. Highly probable is that the increasing environmental awareness and the growing importance of circular economy will stimulate the recycling business.

I cannot foresee in which way the car business, construction industry and other traditional drivers will evolve during the next coming six months. It is clear that in certain parts of the world people are rapidly changing towards EV’s, but it is unclear for me if this will affect the demand for new cars in such a way that the aluminium industry will benefit from it.

AlCircle: How are Hencon solutions matchlessly equipped to meet the technological advancements and environmental needs of the future?

Mr Peter Vanvuchelen: Until now Hencon is the only player in the market to offer proven technology in terms of AGV’s in electromagnetic fields. Now we are implementing artificial intelligence for the very first time in an existing fleet of AGV’s in a potroom. This is a very exciting next step into automation as it will enable our AGV’s to deal with unpredictable situations.

The combination of this know-how with the fact that we offer our complete product range not only with combustion engines but also fully electrified, makes me confident that we have something to offer in terms of environmental and technological requirements.

Of course, most important is that we stay in touch with our customers and that we try to understand what they need and how we can make them more safe, competitive and sustainable.