MECSPE Observatory II four-month period about aluminium enterprises: energy efficiency enhancement, renewable sources and reduction of consumptions are the main solutions introduced to deal with the energy price rise and the unavailability of raw materials. 76% of companies aim at starting a growth course during next years. The manufacturing chain will meet again at METEF from 29th to 31st March 2023.
The geopolitical tensions connected with the Russia-Ukraine war are getting worse, to the detriment, once more, of the European and Italian industry. The forecast of eventual sanctions to the Russian aluminium, in fact, stress the field already suffering from the difficult provisioning of raw materials and the energy expensive price, which alone worries 57% of enterprises in the Italian chain.
A situation with direct effects on the trend of enterprises, which in the second four-month period undergo a shrinkage versus the first 2022 four months: five out of ten declare they are satisfied and with a suitable order portfolio (55%) and most of them (68%) has little confidence in the future. This emerges from the last data of MECSPE Observatory of Senaf about the second 2022 four-month period, with particular reference to the aluminium field.
In spite of all, aluminium companies intend to grow dimensionally during next years (76%), by using private and public funds (42%) and for some (5%) also through the listing at the Stock Exchange. Good the export for the Italian sector (72%) especially towards key territories for the aluminium value chain, such as Germany, France, Spain and Poland and the exports in Middle East (27%) and North America (33%) grow. Precisely with the aim of analysing thoroughly the sector’s development possibilities in a European and international context, the primary protagonists of the aluminium chain will meet at METEF, the international exhibition for the industry of aluminium, of foundry and die-casting, of processing, machining, finishes and final uses, which will be held in BolognaFiere from 29th to 31st March 2023. The trade fair, organized by Senaf, will be held simultaneously with MECSPE, the most important meeting dedicated to the innovations for the manufacturing industry.
Therefore, METEF will be a privileged place for the discussion about the actions to be deployed to face this period of uncertainty and difficulty. The rise of raw materials’ price has exerted a negative impact for 94% of enterprises, struck also by expensive energy (77%) and inflation (55%). A worrying situation that has caused rises of finished products’ prices (83%), delivery delays (65%) and a growth under expectations (43%). Other possible solutions are searched for facing this phase, first of all trying decreasing manufacturing costs through actions of optimization and energy efficiency enhancement (52%), the installation of electric and thermal energy production plants from renewable sources (56%), the use of low energy consumption devices (74%) and the thermal insulation of buildings (37%).
Important measures also for the environmental impact, ambit where four enterprises out of ten deem to be in the forefront. “The ltalian field of the production and first transformations of aluminium employs over 15,000 workers and it achieves a yearly turnover of over 14 billion Euros, the whole chain that includes, machining, finishing and manufacturing downstream is estimated between 40 and 50 billions, and it is more and more important for the industry’s decarbonization due to the aluminium property of being recycled endlessly – affirms Mario Conserva, president of METEF –. Concerning this, METEF intends to be the most important square of the metallurgical industry’s technological innovation, through events and demo areas dedicated to the sector’s requirements, where operators, buyers and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to meet in a highly professional and privileged context, to speed up together solutions shared also with sector associations and institutions”.
METEF has been for years a boost for the companies’ growth, and the essence of this commitment is METEF Innovation Award, an initiative on a world scale, consolidated for over a decade and made even more attractive in the edition of next year, aimed at highlighting the most innovative case histories, nominated by exhibiting companies, concerning the innovation in plants, technologies, products and applications in aluminium and its alloys and in metallurgical field in general.
