As of: February 7, 2024, 1:56 p.m
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Yellow pipes, which carry natural gas on the one hand and hydrogen on the other, are installed in an industrial plant owned by Evonik.
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
Gray clouds and a gloomy mood: the chemical industry is suffering from high energy prices.
This can also be seen in the balance sheet and the forecast.
Stuttgart/Baden-Baden - The chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Baden-Württemberg, which is primarily burdened by high energy prices, is expecting declines in production and sales in the current year.
Based on a survey among companies, the Baden-Württemberg associations expect a decline in sales of three percent in 2024, a further decline in production of one percent and staff cuts in a quarter of the companies.
“Chemistry is in crisis mode,” said the chairman of the Baden-Württemberg Chemical Employers’ Association, Patrick Krauth, on Wednesday in Stuttgart.
“We had a crisis year in 2023, and 2024 will also be a crisis year.” That is why the 2024 collective bargaining round should not put any further strain on the industry.
The industry ended last year with a decline in production of 1.4 percent compared to 2022.
Sales fell by 0.2 percent to 26.2 billion euros, with the pharmaceutical industry, viewed in isolation, recording an increase of a good eleven percent.
The number of employees grew by 3.8 percent to around 64,000.
However, these statistics only take companies with more than 50 employees into account.
All in all, there are 486 member companies with 113,000 employees in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry associations in Baden-Württemberg.
The largest sub-sectors are pharmaceuticals (44 percent), varnishes, paints and building protection (12 percent) and personal care and detergents (8 percent).
dpa