In international comparison, energy is relatively expensive in Germany. In the electricity-intensive chemical industry, this could become a problem under the burning glass of the corona crisis. Whole sites are on the brink, warns the industry. Are pharmaceutical companies doing better now?
Hanover / Berlin (dpa) - Under the pressure of breaking orders in the corona crisis, the chemical industry is worried about the future of many medium-sized companies and demands relief in the electricity price.
If the situation worsens at consistently high costs, several companies could question entire locations. "All companies try to keep their employment level as far as possible. But at the moment nobody can predict whether this will work in the end," said the managing director of the industry association VCI for Northern Germany, Jochen Wilkens, the German press agency.
Member companies throughout Germany are losing business, while the global market is more than saturated with products from Asia. The significantly increased import is putting additional pressure on the locations, warned association chief Detlev Wösten. "Therefore, moderate measures to reduce working hours are often hardly possible." Automotive suppliers are also at risk: "These supply chains alone represent a significant proportion of the decline in orders."
Remedies could create lower energy costs according to Wösten - not a completely new requirement, but one that is now gaining in importance. "The EEG surcharge not only has to be capped. This is a first step, but in the end we need more than a slight relief."
From 2021, the levy that consumers in industry and households use to finance the expansion of green electricity expansion is also to be reduced through grants from the federal budget. It compensates for the difference between exchange electricity prices and feed-in tariffs for operators of wind or solar plants. Because electricity in wholesale has become cheaper due to the Corona crisis and producer prices are guaranteed at the same time, the cost gap is widening.
"The availability of sufficient renewable energy is of course important," said Wösten. "But that has to be done on competitive terms. We hope that there will be further political initiatives in autumn at the latest." The stimulus package must be improved. So far, it is planned that income from the new CO2 price should also relieve the EEG surcharge.
The VCI federal association had also spoken in favor of further steps: "The content and timing for the package are correct. But it is too short, because it is not a growth program for the necessary transformation in Germany." The head of the IG BCE union, Michael Vassiliadis, called the federal subsidies for the green electricity levy "overdue". But that's not all. "Now the switch has been made, further steps have to follow."
In general, many chemical companies were worried, said Wösten. "The intensified competitive situation became more apparent in the Corona crisis." From large companies to medium-sized companies, 70 percent of orders fell, of which 40 percent were serious losses. Due to the high level of networking with other industries, this could radiate further, warned Wilkens. "40 percent of the foundry chemicals are used in engine casting, a large part also in wind turbine production." There would also be mechanical engineering and shipbuilding.
In view of the increased demand for medicines, the pharmaceutical division had only started up recently, and many people wanted to stock up on basic active ingredients. "So we expect to see declines in the next few months." A return of basic medicines from China and India is not so easy. "Production of active ingredients in Germany often no longer pays off. We have to keep the existing production in Europe, maybe we can also get certain antibiotics back."