'With these energy prices the Foundries have no future'
Zanardi: 'Immediate measures and tax credits are needed. While utility suppliers are breaking records, an industry is dying'.
by Luca Orlando
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3' min read
3' min read
'It is not a country for foundries'. Fabio Zanardi, president of Assofond, summarises the category's less than enthusiastic mood here at the start of his speech at the annual general meeting. Inevitable pessimism, looking at the numbers of the sector, which after having lost twelve points in 2024 in terms of both quantity and value, finds itself for some sectors at the lowest production levels since 1980. A downward spiral that continues even now, with declines in the order of 10% in the first quarter for production and turnover.
"This is no longer an isolated event but a long-term trend, which negatively affects the competitiveness of companies. The first cause of the decline in production is energy prices, also due,' Zanardi explains, 'to the continuing distortion of the link between electricity and gas, despite a mix in which renewable sources now account for 45 per cent.
"This anomaly penalises us," he explains, "and creates an emergency situation. Because if an energy company, large or small, does not have costs in line with international competitors, it is automatically out of the market. And while the foundries are struggling for survival, the utility suppliers are making record profits'.
The main request is for urgent action, first of all the tax credit, 'the only measure that has really worked and restored competitiveness to the system, an effective and targeted quick measure'. Then to decouple the gas and electricity price lists as soon as possible, a measure partly implemented through the Energy Release mechanism and yet still blocked by EU findings and not definitive.
'There is a lot of frustration,' Zanardi explains, 'because although the problem has been known for a long time, nobody does anything about it. And this is mortifying'. For a system, he explains, that is forgotten in the main measures, being represented by 'companies that risk being too small to fall into the category of large energy users and on the other hand too energy-intensive to fall into the category of SMEs: it has already happened with the last Bill Decree and we cannot allow it to happen again'.
