Metal Portugal. Exports are still growing but “it is becoming unsustainable to keep companies working”, warns the association
“Right now we’re reaching a point where it’s becoming unsustainable to keep companies going.” The phrase comes from Rafael Campos Pereira, vice president of the metallurgical sector association AIMMAP, concerned with the economic environment – despite the trend in exports continuing to rise. And at the top of the concerns is the “constant and uninterrupted rise in the cost of raw materials, shipping and more recently fuel and energy.”
“It is urgent for the Government to take a position to make one of the largest sectors of the Portuguese economy sustainable. In addition, a very approximate share of fuel and energy prices can be determined by fees and taxes, a situation that must be” resolved and reversed immediately “, insists the association leader of the leading export sector in a communiqué built around statistics on foreign sales.
The chain continues in a tone of stable growth, with a record of 1,104 million euros in the month of August, which represents a sustained growth of 2.6% compared to the same period of 2020″, says the statement. For the first eight months of the year there are increases of 25.6% compared to 2020 and 0.7% compared to the pre-pandemic period (2019).
However, “although these numbers are quite good, taking into account that the month of August is usually a month marked by a general slowdown in the economy due to the holiday period, which is known to be less than expected”.
And for an AIMMAP, “this breach of expectations” is due “to a large extent” to the constant and uninterrupted rise in the cost of raw materials, maritime transport and, more recently, fuel and energy.
As for the numbers of sales abroad, while the so-called traditional markets, such as Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, continue to be highlighted, their share has been falling, currently at 71.2%.
“On the other hand, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have witnessed an increase in the importance of markets that until then were not traditional, such as Japan, China, Australia and Morocco, and which remain at the top of the main trading partners”, highlights the association .
With a growth of 25.6% compared to 2020 and a growth of 0.7% compared to the pre-pandemic period, METAL PORTUGAL continues to show the resilience of its companies to maintain the quality level of national production.