Margaux Fodéré, edited by Yanis Darras 06:17, December 07, 2022

Adapt or die.

Faced with soaring energy bills, companies are looking for solutions to avoid going out of business.

MEDEF has decided to bring together industry players to assess the solutions.

Among the ideas adopted, the reduction of production, the time to wait for a lull in the energy markets.

Times are tough for the industrial world.

Tuesday, November 6, the MEDEF brought together several companies and institutions to address the subject of the energy crisis.

Faced with soaring gas, oil and electricity prices, companies continue to seek solutions, sometimes reluctantly.

Some fear relocation, or worse closure.

Others have decided to adapt and reduce their production, while waiting for a lull in the markets.

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Producing is too expensive

In sectors highly dependent on energy, such as aluminum or steel, costs have risen so much in recent months that some companies have had no choice but to cut back.

Because producing is too expensive, confides the Union of Energy-using Industries to Europe 1.

Consequence: the global nitrogen fertilizer giant Yara had to reduce its activity, explains Nicolas Broutin, president of Yara France.

"Natural gas represents up to 90% of our production costs", explains the business manager, at the microphone of Europe 1. "And the very strong variation in the price of gas brought us to the end of the month of August to reduce our European production capacity by 65%. And today we are adapting the production capacity on a continuous basis."

The fertilizer sector badly affected

And the entire fertilizer sector is experiencing the same fate, notes Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, president of Engie.

"We are talking about 60% to 70% of the reduction in fertilizer production in Europe because fertilizer is slightly transformed gas", he specifies.

This slowdown in production also largely explains the drop in electricity consumption that was observed in France in November.

A reduction in consumption much more effective than the sobriety efforts of the French, but ultimately devastating for employment.