The glass sector has called on the EU to take action to reduce energy costs and ensure predictability for European industry.
Ahead of today’s Council of Energy Ministers (November 24), Glass Alliance Europe wishes to recall that at its current level, i.e. a TTF fluctuating between 100 and 125 €/MWh[1]the price of gas, then that of electricity, are historically high and are seriously weakening the economy, industry and European society as a whole.
Beyond the macro-economic and social impacts, such as inflation, reduced economic growth and increasing energy poverty, these high energy prices push up glass production costs and threaten competitiveness and sometimes profitability of glass manufacturing and processing facilities in Europe.
The situation is such that significant increases in imports of glass products from outside the EU are already accompanied by the suspension of production in certain industrial sites and the postponement of essential industrial investments.
Current energy prices pose an existential threat to the future of the glass industry in Europe.
Since glass products are indispensable elements in many critical value chains such as the food, beverage, building and infrastructure, transport, pharmaceutical and renewable energy sectors, a weakening of the he glass industry would seriously hamper Europe’s ability to achieve its climate neutrality goals and its objectives in terms of strategic autonomy and resilient value chains.
Commenting on the upcoming meeting of the Council of Energy Ministers, Bertrand Cazes, Secretary General of Glass Alliance Europe, said: “Dealing with hypothetical future peaks in gas prices, as proposed by the European Commission with its market, is one thing, but the urgency must be to devise measures to reduce today’s excessive energy costs.
Glass Alliance Europe calls on the European Commission and energy ministers at the November 24 Council meeting to focus their efforts on designing effective mechanisms and measures to reduce current energy costs and provide predictability to industry European.
[1] First month Dutch natural gas futures contract, TTF, price range observed since mid-October 2022.