The price record suffocates the industry: "There are already open public tenders"

Spanish companies are trying to react to the

in -at least- the last 45 years, when the National Institute of Statistics (INE) began to record the evolution of the prices of raw materials and intermediate products that the industry needs for its production.

The rise is 31.9% year-on-year in October and, if the increase in the price of energy is discounted, industrial prices have grown by 9.7% in the last year, hence the companies in the industrial sector in the country face a

. Although the problem is common to all sectors, each company tries to weather the problem according to its possibilities.

In

, the rise in prices

in the last three months, according to data from the National Construction Confederation. Its president,

explains to EL MUNDO that "95% of companies have noticed an unusual increase in the price of materials, especially wood, which has risen by 125%, steel, aluminum and the iron". To which is added the rise in electricity.

"This has meant that more than 60% of companies have been forced to cancel contracts or

and, in addition,

, because

There have already been several cases in which, Due to the price of the tender, no one shows up to the work. The Administration has to update the prices. This is an issue that is worrying us, "he stresses.

He gives as an example the work for the

in Alicante, the work of

in Gijón or the union of the

in Santander.

All of them have been deserted because the construction companies were not compensated to present themselves to the tender for the prices.

Within the most industrial branches, the

sector

is the most affected, since it also has to face the lack of supplies, especially semiconductors and chips.

"The rise impacts the

including components, where margins are very narrow. Therefore, the only way to maintain profitability that guarantees business continuity is to

that we are experimenting with customers, which will ultimately affect the final price of the vehicle ", admit sources from

, a component manufacturer.

Some of the raw materials they use, such as

now cost up to

, while

, used to make catalytic converters for vehicles, is up 24 %.

"The

in our twenty-one plants in some cases has doubled. We see that it is a general trend in all our plants in Europe and that, although in a more moderate way, it also impacts the rest of the regions", they point out.

From

, they underline that "energy is a

for the Spanish automotive industry. We are the second largest car-producing country in Europe and we generate 11% of GDP and 9% of employment. To maintain this contribution to the Spanish economy, we need competitive prices that equate us to those of other European countries ".

This competitiveness is hampered by falling margins.

"A global production problems due to the shortage of semiconductors, joins the general rise in the prices of raw materials and high energy costs, which is affecting the

says

Transferring costs to the customer, key for the industry

The

is another of the great affected, especially the basic chemistry -which uses raw materials for its production-.

In this segment,

are the ones that have exploded the most due to the

"Within the chemical industry sector some 30,000 different products are manufactured, but those most affected by electricity prices are those of basic chemicals. A clear example is fertilizers, in fact Fertiberia, the leading company in the sector in Spain It has several plants closed until the end of the year because it is not profitable to produce because of the price of gas, "admits

, general director of the

Other segments of the chemical industry, such as

, which in turn use other chemical products to produce their own, have more capacity to transfer the increase in costs to prices, thus suffering less from these increases.

There are companies that have a difficult time transferring this rise in prices to the consumer, such as

"In the aerospace sector it is different.

, for example, is a company that has an order book of more than 7,000 aircraft and that what it produces today it will not sell tomorrow, everything it is producing now is already signed at a price There is international competition that prevents prices from rising, so Airbus is buying more expensive supplies and paying for the energy at the price it is at, without transferring it to prices ", which translates into a narrowing of the margins of benefit, explains

general secretary of the Federation of Industry, Construction and Agriculture (

) of UGT and an Airbus worker.

As an industry representative of this union, he warns that "some companies are

few weeks, not only due to the rise in prices but also due to the lack of supplies, which can put the viability of their business at risk" .

A challenge for SMEs

The problem of rising prices is especially evident in

which in Spain account for

, according to the latest data from the INE.

"We are living it with concern because apart from price increases there is a lack of products, we are looking for what there is not and knowing that they will charge us much more for it. We

because

. It is not a question of having less profit, it is about entering into losses, "says

, general director of

, in conversation with this medium

.

This company, an SME established since 1965 in Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona), is dedicated to manufacturing and distributing

throughout the national territory and abroad

. "What has increased us the most is stainless steel, copper, packaging, cardboard and the electrical components that the sources carry: the fan motors and compressors, although these a little less", explains its general director, who acknowledges that in January he will look product by product to see how prices can rise. "I think

, but the rise in costs will be higher."

In a similar situation is

, a company that manufactures

liquefied biogas - and whose clients are urban waste collection companies, municipal services and urban passenger transport.

It has already transferred the price increase to its rates by 20%,

"We are trying

the extra cost that suppliers pass on to us. We do have to pass it on, but without leaving what the customer can assume, because

" he says.

CEO of the company.

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