One in four manufacturers is already affected, according to the results of a survey conducted by IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. among its member companies. For 2022, the industry expects the cost of industrial electricity to rise from an average of 16.7 to 21.4 cents per kilowatt hour. "The dramatically increased electricity and gas costs are threatening the existence of many of our member companies," warns IK CEO Dr. Martin Engelmann, also with a view to foreign competitors. Annual increases in electricity costs of over 25 percent were not sustainable in the long term, even for healthy companies. At present, 27 percent of IK members had to turn down orders for cost reasons because production cannot cover costs under these conditions. The costs could only partially be passed on to the customers. In view of the explosion in energy prices, the new German government should not close its eyes to the economic consequences and should introduce regulations as quickly as possible to protect local industry from excessively high energy prices, Engelmann demands.

Sources:

• neue-verpackung.de (Jan. 4, 2022)
• packreport.de (Jan. 6, 2022)
• Foto: @ Siepmann, Pixelio