The Valencian metal industry lives a perfect storm for The brake during the last years From one of its great engines, the carto which it has joined two years in which Valencian exports record a setback and The destruction and effects of the Dana In the province of Valencia.
The last situation of the metal sector of the fourth quarter of 2024 prepared by the Valencian Metallurgical Business Federation (Femeval) emphasizes that after 24 consecutive months of contraction of the activity, the Valencian metal industry closed 2024 with A 10.1% drop in its production, the worst data of the last four years.
A negative evolution that also accused the subsector of metal facilities by decreasing 2.9% and 1.1% trade and repair. According to the sustained impact of external factors such as high labor costs, the difficulty in incorporating qualified people (which amounts to second place and the first in the case of facilities), the decrease in commercial margins and the cost of energy have been decisive for this deterioration of activity, which contrasts with the growth of 2.9% of the metal sector in the national field.
To this indicator, it adds the drastic reduction of 12.5% of the volume of exports compared to last yearwith special incidence in vehicles and their components that decreased by 22.5%. The proportion of metal exports on the total activities of the Valencian Community fell in the last year by three percentage points (from 36% to 33%) and cease to be the main industrial production engine in our sector.
Waiting for tariffs
Regarding destinations, the fall of exports in the main metal markets such as German, French, North American and Italian. It remains to see the tariff measures imposed by Trump to Europe affect exports.
In the report it stands out Good employment behavior which registered 227,615 workers in the last four -month 224,286 jobs.
By branches of activity, industrial employment remained with 104,415 occupied in the four quarter of 2024, a figure similar to the same period of the previous year. This is binding creation of 10,300 positions in wholesale trade located at 36,800 workers, and 2,400 in the sale and repair of vehicles that went from 44,400 to 46,800 jobs. The worst data occurred in the metal facilities by accusing a decrease of 52,000 to 39,600 jobs.
Despite this disparate scenario, Valencian companies maintain a reasonably positive assessment of 6.8 points about their situation. Likewise, business expectations for the first quarter of 2025 seem to correct to some extent this complicated situation, when becoming positive with a value of 59.1 points (in a scale from 0 to 100). And even the investment prospects exceed the 50 -point barrier, specifically up to 52.9, a fact that marks the future trend of the economy and that can collect the need for new investments for the damage generated by the DANA. “It is evident that the geopolitical situation, increasingly complicated, is overshadowing metal activity. Paradoxically, there are still many employment vacancies despite the fall in productivity.
Effects of the flood
The Femeval report also includes an assessment on the consequences of Dana, which has affected 27.5% of companies in the sector, With greater scope in metal trade with 38.9% (warehouses of raw materials, electrical material, vehicle replacement, …), followed by 26.9% of installing and maintenance companies, and 24.5% of industries.
On their negative effects, companies indicate the loss of customers who have sought new suppliers and those who must reconquer, as well as financial indebtedness to deal with the delay in collecting the consortium and the approved aid. But that it is also seen as an opportunity to renew the stock and make new more productive investments regarding support measures, the assessment is very negative for the insurance consortium, and do not approve the measures of the central government as an autonomous. Undoubtedly, the political actions to divert their responsibilities and the low coordination between the two administrations, motivate this unfavorable appreciation.
In positive, private volunteer type initiatives and private actions for aid and donations management are highlighted. Affected companies estimate a faster recovery than expected, calculating halfway back to normal in a maximum of one year. “However, the speed on the effective arrival of aid and consortium will be decisive in shortening or extending this recovery process in our companies,” concludes Lafuente.
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