This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Situación actual del metal español
In the current situation, it is affected significantly by the sudden decline in demand and the lack of liquidity
Current situation of Spanish metal
Department of research and strategy of fira de Barcelona06/04/2009
April 6, 2009
The metal sector is suffering an intense transformation the past few years, embodied
in different areas such as corporate restructuring, the decline of the occupation, the relocation of production processes, or the increase of energy costs and raw materials.
Also, since the beginning of 2008 and as a result of the global financial crisis, the global industry has been experiencing a process of steady deterioration, which has become more intense since the middle of the year and translates into continuous setbacks of various indicators of the metal. The decline in sales and the increase of late payments from clients, brings with it problems of Treasury and the need for structural adjustments, with the added problem of an uncertain future.
The metal sector has allocated, during recent years, large amounts of economic and human resources to make investments in facilities, equipment, organization and training of workers and managers. At the same time, it has made an effort to invest in innovation and internationalization. Also, in the present situation, is affected significantly by the sudden decline in demand and the lack of liquidity driven mainly by the restriction to credit by financial entities, facts which coupled with the late payment of some clients leave the sectorlike many others of the economy, a situation complicated before a future trend of uncertainty.
