IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V.
IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. : Energy deteriorates economic framework conditions
In spite of a forecast that continues to be satisfactory for the general economic situation in Germany, the plastics packaging industry assesses its own development in the scope of the IK economic development trend for the 3rd quarter of 2013 to be more negative than in the previous quarter.
The companies see themselves exposed to increasingly harsh international competition on the German market that essentially takes place via prices. While foreign enterprises are able to calculate with much lower energy costs at times – power costs in France are only half as high; in the US, electricity prices have partially dropped to as little as 5 cent/per kilowatt hour – the German plastics packaging producers are currently paying a high price to maintain their competitiveness. The costs for the increase of the EEG allocation this year alone are in the six-digit range for medium-sized companies. This money is missing, for example, for urgently needed investments. Experts already assume that the price spiral will continue to turn up next year. The EEG-allocation may then go up to above 7 cent/per kilowatt hour. IK managing director Ulf Kelterborn on this: ‘The current concept of the energy policy turnaround with its mad costs for industry and consumers that have run out of control must be stopped at once. Else, a number of medium-sized businesses will be unable to maintain their production in Germany. Already, larger companies are thinking about leaving.’ IK, together with many other organisations of the small business sector, has long been demanding a market-economy-alignment of energy production. Only working competition permits innovations and therefore reasonable cost structures. Current developments on the international energy markets, such as the cost-efficient natural gas production by fracking in the USA or in England, show that the current German concept of the turnaround of energy policy will fail the international comparison of power prices. This also strongly endangers Germany as an industry location. End of Media Release Issuer: IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. Key word(s): Associations 03.07.2013 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by DGAP – a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP’s Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de |
219664 03.07.2013 |