this crisis of the industry ceramic inside Castellon gets worse again The sector, on the other hand, is eagerly awaiting when and how the Government’s measures will be announced in order to maintain an activity on which 22.3 percent of the provincial economy depends. The last sign of concern is given by Export October data.
Invoicing in foreign markets has been on the rise in recent months due to inflation, which means more money for the same production. On the other hand, the exported quantity had been declining for months already. While the decline was 35.5% in September, the accumulated figure for the first nine months of the year is already -7.2%.
The negative novelty of October is about sales: it goes from 316.68 million euros in October 2021 to 300.81, which is a 5.01% drop. first time the red numbers come at the same time as the exported domain and billing.
accumulated data
Tile accumulated between January and October was sold abroad with a value of 3,878.9 million euros, an increase of 28.34% compared to the same period of the previous year. It’s an amount we have to subtract the high costs of raw materials and especially natural gas.
Latest report submitted by ceramics employer AscerIt states that only energy costs will reach 2,566 million Euros in 2022, this is equivalent to 45% of all billing. Therefore, it is expected to close the year with a loss of close to 1,000 million euros..
No new help
To confront this alarming landscape, which means that more than 9,000 workers of ceramics factories are in an ERTE, both employers and unions and the political class of Castellón and Comunitat must claimed that aid had begun to moderate the strong increase in energy, which is now seven times more expensive than in the first quarter of last year. To do this, they look to the example of Italy, which applies tax breaks to make its gas bill 40% cheaper.
Head of Government Pedro Sánchez met with Ascer leaders on November 23 and promised new assistance to avert a disaster in the industry. More than three weeks later, and the Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto reiterated this week that measures will be taken before the end of the year, and it is not known what they will consist of. “No news from the front”, they content themselves with stating from Ascer. Despite this, it is clear that there is contact between the two parties to bring about improvements.
The restlessness expands to the enamel
Worry shows itself on the other legs of the cluster as well. From glaze and frit manufacturers (anfecc), general secretary Manuel Brevadue to the lack of aid for ceramics, “there is now a demand crisis, which directly affecting the orders of our companies”, For this reason, he thinks that “direct support should be given to the sector, with the amount of aid that is now available to allow us to salvage the situation”.
Otherwise, he insists, “the displacement we’ve already seen in both production and investment” will increase, as well as ERTE, which has already reached the Altadia group, the most important of enamels and frits. In order not to worsen the landscape, our “management have to support us directly”, Breva stressed.