The industry is once again experiencing a new perfect storm with skyrocketing energy costs and component shortages shutting down customer factories. But now with greater virulence since this situation experienced during the start of the war in Ukraine occurs at a time of reduced demand due to the risk of recession and lack of confidence in the future. In addition, energy prices are once again extremely high and competition from Turkish or Chinese exporters is greater.
In recent days, the large electro-intensive industries such as Arcelor or Ferroatlántica have begun to stop while the large car manufacturers such as Seat, Volkswagen or Stellantis have partially stopped their assembly lines.
“The situation is problematic and very serious. And it requires stopping production”, says Fernando Soto, general director of the . Association of companies with large energy consumption (AEGE). “The high prices that seemed like they were going to last until summer are going to last,” he adds.
The most paradigmatic case is that of Arcelor, which announced this week to close the furnace at its Asturian factory at the end of the month due to "reduced demand" and the arrival of export products that have lower costs than the Spanish ones. “The decision is taken at a time of economic uncertainty where consumer confidence in steel has declined,” the company added. Some steel mills are also affected by the stoppage of car factories.
In the case of the Catalan company Celsa, sources from the group explained that they continue to work but that the latest increases in the price of electricity lead them to a strategy like the one in the first quarter when they stopped the furnace – which works with electricity – on days when higher costs or during the hours when electricity was more expensive.
Soto points out that the data he handles about large energy consumption companies is that in 90% of cases they do not have closed energy contracts that guarantee stable prices, but are instead at the mercy of fluctuations in the price of electricity. .
He adds that although they have benefited from the price limitation derived from the Iberian "exception", the deduction is less than promised. The representative of the companies insists on the need to establish a mechanism to further lower the bill for large consumers. "In France, our competitors continue to pay lower prices," he maintains, assuring that prices there are 42 euros per megawatt.
Since the implementation of the gas price limitation when setting the cost of electricity, the rate has widely exceeded 400 euros on several occasions, which is close to the maximum of 575 in the first quarter of the year .
In the case of Ferroatlántica, the company closed the two furnaces it had in operation this week due to the rising cost of energy and will do so indefinitely, possibly until the price of megawatt/hour (MWh) is controlled. The company is also affected by the increase in the costs of raw materials.
Soto points out that beyond the large electro-intensive companies, SMEs are also forced to stop because it is not competitive to produce with current energy costs.
