EU Smelters Experience Existential Risk Amid Energy Price Spikes - Reports
A growing number of smelters in Europe are at risk of closing due to skyrocketing electricity prices, and the risks could realize sooner than expected, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2022) A growing number of smelters in Europe are at risk of closing due to skyrocketing electricity prices, and the risks could realize sooner than expected, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Friday.
The closures of two big smelters Norsk Hydro in Slovakia and Nyrstar in the Netherlands were announced earlier this week, and now, according to the newspaper, more closures are expected to follow because of high energy prices.
"It is clear that European smelter cuts will come deeper and sooner than we anticipated," Tom Mulqueen, research strategist for metals at Citigroup Inc. told the outlet.
Plant closures have huge implications for the European economy, as the region's largest manufacturers in strategic industries such as steel, defense, aerospace and automotive are trying to rely less on imports, and plant closures will force them to turn to foreign manufacturers, primarily to Russia and China, the newspaper added.
Gas prices in Europe have skyrocketed throughout the year, reaching $2,500 per 1,000 cubic meters in late July, after Gazprom announced its plans to reduce supplies via a key gas pipeline starting July 27 to no more than 33 million cubic meters per day, 20% of the pipeline's nominal capacity.