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The European Foundry Industry Sentiment Indicator (FISI) moved sideways in November. A minor improvement by 0.2 points brings the index to a value of 103.0 points, says the European Foundry Association, CAEF. While business expectations for the next six months have declined again, assessments of the current business situation surprisingly increased in November. Overall, both factors equalise each other in the calculation of the FISI. 

CAEF reports that the extreme peaks in energy prices have not been noted recently. Nevertheless, due to the ongoing very high cost level in many countries, governments are working on measures to reduce the burden. These so-called emergency measures are regulated within the EU by the Temporary Crisis Framework as part of state aid law. On the one hand, complex and insufficient relief packages are already emerging from this; on the other hand, the crisis shows that a strategic and practical industrial policy is still only being discussed inadequately. While the Inflation Reduction Act has been introduced in the USA, the EU is still concerned with negotiating on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This again might just become another case of “well meant and badly done” particularly bringing detrimental prospects to small and medium-sized foundries which are already under significant cost pressure. 

Meanwhile the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) decreased in November. The decrease of 0.20 points brings the index to 0.54 points. The production trend observed in recent months as well as the assessment of (export) order-book levels significantly decreased. www.caef.eu