Training and technological innovation: the recipe for the shocks of the metal
July 21, 2009
The metal sector is strategic for the Spanish economy due to its weight in the gross value added of the national industrial production (37.3%), and the industrial employment (45%).
During 2008, the metal sector reached an estimated 226.833 million euro production, 2.7% less than the previous year, and generated a turnover of EUR 241.528 million, reflecting a decrease of 2% respect to 2007.
Exports reached a value in the year 2008 of 88.817 million euros, a reduction of 0.8% compared to 2007, being the European Union the fate of more than 72% of sales abroad. Imports were 120.895 million euros, a decline of 10.4% over the previous year, being also the European Union origin of 70% of them, and producing an improvement of the ratio of coverage of foreign trade in the sector.
With regard to employment in the sector, the data collected identified at the end of the second quarter of 2008, a total of occupied 1.469.100, reflecting a decrease of 1% compared to the same period of the previous year. However, in the fourth quarter had been a 6.36% drop in relation to the above-mentioned second quarter of 2008.
Observatory of the Sector of Metal
The Observatory is a forum for permanent meeting and a key instrument for the analysis of the sector, able to systematize the collection and processing of information about their needs and demands, their results and perspectives, the introduction of new elements of innovation and strategic systems that improve the competitiveness of firms and thereby secure the future of the sector.
The Observatory is the foundation of the Metal for the training, qualification and employment, (in turn made up of the Federation of industry of Comisiones Obreras, the Federation of the Metal, construction and Allied of the General Union of workers, and the Spanish Confederation of business organizations of Metal); the Spanish Federation of innovation and technology (Fedit); entities and, by the public authorities, the Ministry of labour and immigration and the Ministry of industry, tourism and trade, which coordinates the operation of the Observatory.
Tips of the Observatory
Its main findings and recommendations of the Observatory include:
- Further statistical improvement for better follow-up of the evolution of the sector and maintain the current level of information in the statistics of foreign trade under the pressure of some States members to simplify the Intrastat statistics.
- Assess the desirability of having a strategy of management of industrial land, in coordination with the autonomous communities, enabling the generation of industrial land of quality.
- To strengthen the planning of economic activity at the supramunicipal level spaces, by encouraging the development of institutions to facilitate the Organization of activities and services between municipalities.
- Strengthen the dissemination, by the social partners, of the regulation on training for employment in particular the impact of the accreditation of professional qualifications on the workers.
- Identify the factors related to innovation and the key technologies of competitiveness in the sub-sectors of the industry of the Metal.
- Promote the use of the tools designed by the Observatory of the industry of Metal for the elaboration of diagnoses and innovation plans designed to facilitate the proper prioritization of their strategies of r & d, both in the public announcements of the AGE and the AA CC, as in the National Plan.
The Ministry of industry, tourism and trade considers that in the current situation it is particular relevance the activity of the Observatory, to propose possible solutions to the needs of the industry, that they may serve as guidance for the future performance of all operators in the sector.
The recommendations made in previous years have served as basis for the implementation of a programme for competitiveness of strategic industrial sectors, aimed, inter alia, to the metal sector. The Ministry of industry, tourism and trade allocated more than 260 million euros, by granting soft loans, to the support of the actions to improve the competitiveness of the sectors included in the programme in areas such as increased sustainability and added value of products and processes, and the training of technical personnel.
The Secretary of industry and business, Antoni Soy; the President of the Unió Patronal Metal·lúrgica (UPM), and representing also the federations of employers in the metal of Girona, Tarragona and Lleida, Antoni Marsal; the Secretary general of the Federation of industry of Comisiones Obreras (FI-CCOO), Javier Pacheco; and the representative of the Metal, construction and Allied of the UGT (MCA-UGT), Manuel García-Salgado, signed the founding act of the sectoral Standing Committee of the Metal under the name of the Observatory of the industry of the Metal of Catalonia.
This Observatory is the result, on the one hand, of the commitment made by trade unions and employers in the collective bargaining of the iron and steel industry in the provincial areas of Catalonia and Catalan framework, on the other, the recent creation of the Consell of Industrial policy in Cataloniaunder the law 9/2009 industrial policy. This Act has the main objective of ensuring the participation of employers and trade unions in the definition of objectives and the identification of the most appropriate instruments of industrial policy for each sector of activity and to adapt them to new situations and realities.
The Constitution of the Observatory took place in the Ministry of industry and enterprise, given the importance of the metal in the Catalan economy sector and the close link between the objectives envisaged in the framework of the collective of the iron and steel industry and the law of Industrial policy. Its main objective will be to examine, to know and follow the evolution and trends of the activities of the sector of the metal of Catalonia, in order to anticipate the events and make specific proposals to the problems of the companies. During the month of September will begin the work of the Observatory, which will be integrated into the Council of Industrial policy at the time of the adoption of the Decree, as provided for in the law 9/Industrial policy, adopted on 17 June 2009.
