Metal exports see best results in last decade
Exports to the European Union continue to have the highest share, accounting for 75% of total exports of the sector, but Japan, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom stand out.
Portuguese exports of metalworking and metallurgy increased 15.6% in February, year-on-year, to €2.078 billion, recording “the best results of the last decade” in the first two months of the year, the sector association announced on Wednesday.
“The outlook for 2023 is optimistic, with exports in January and February showing a year-on-year increase of 15.2%. In fact, the first two months of the year recorded the best results of the same period of the last decade,” the Association of Metallurgical, Metalworking and Allied Industries of Portugal (AIMMAP) said in a statement.
Recalling that in 2022, Metal Portugal exports recorded a new annual record of €23.08 billion, AIMMAP said that these results “confirm and consolidate the growth path of the metallurgical and metalworking sector in a year in which the economic context remains challenging, with high production costs, namely energy, inflation and rising interest rates, in addition to the uncertainty about the evolution of the global political and economic environment, accentuated by the war in Ukraine.”
Exports to the European Union continue to have the highest share, accounting for 75% of total exports of the sector, but Japan, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom stand out as “the countries with the greatest absolute growth in this period, revealing that extra-Community markets also continue to gain importance”.
As for the group of countries to which Metal Portugal exported most, it remains the same, with Spain, France, Germany, United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), Italy, Angola, the USA and the Netherlands at the top of the ranking.
According to the association, “this record of consistent growth is only possible due to the sector’s continuous investment in quality, innovation, technology, training, as well as in standards of sustainability crucial to the positioning of a sector that every day overcomes challenges to be in extremely demanding and sophisticated markets.”
Quoted in the statement, the executive vice president of AIMMAP highlights the results obtained by companies in the sector in the first two months of the year, especially in the “current adverse global environment and at a time when the government continues to turn its back on a private initiative that is the truly sustainable source of wealth creation.”
“In a year that started, again, with more mishaps of the executive, with TAP continuing to absorb millions and the first tenders of Portugal 2030 completely excluding business activity, the results of Metal Portugal are truly remarkable and should be applauded by all,” argues Rafael Campos Pereira.
Reinforcing that Metal Portugal “continues to be the sector that contributes the most to the country’s socio-economic progress, with its contribution to wealth creation, job creation, innovation and technological development”, the association leader underlines that “despite this optimistic start to the year, naturally the outlook for 2023 must be cautious”.
“The demands are many and, if urgent measures are not taken to mitigate the effects of this reality, the competitiveness of the national economy will certainly be affected. It is fundamental that there is a revolution in the paradigm of governmental management in our country and that companies also become a priority,” he concluded.
