Düsseldorf. Use raw materials sparingly? In many companies there is still room for improvement. "Raw materials are currently not the most important issue for companies," says Lars-Peter Häfele from the Inverto purchasing consultancy. Accordingly, not all opportunities for savings would be taken. This is the result of Inverto's raw material survey in collaboration with Handelsblatt. 80 managing directors and purchasing managers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland took part.
Even the Ukraine crisis or the disturbances in important regions of the Middle East have changed nothing in the assessment of the companies. After all, price increases for raw materials such as oil, gas or grain, which would actually be logical due to the crises, did not materialize. On the contrary, European Brent oil currently costs less than 80 dollars per barrel (159 liters). So little had to be paid for it more than four years ago. The industrial metal copper is also trading at a multi-year low due to global economic concerns.
Such price declines generally have a positive effect on the balance sheets of companies, and the companies are accordingly relaxed. Supply problems are expected by a third of respondents - if at all - in rare earths. Just two years ago, these high-tech metals, which are needed for cell phones, worried almost 40 percent of companies. At that time, China imposed export restrictions. "That's still in the mind," explains Häfele.
But now even the German commodities agency has given the all-clear. Because the demand for so-called heavy rare earths is sinking. The reason: LEDs, called LED for short, are faster than expected. And for them much less rare earths are needed. The worries of the companies are pushed back further.
Similar with oil, gas or coal. Only a fifth of companies can imagine supply problems. "Nobody expects that Russia will actually turn off the gas tap," says Häfele, referring to the Ukraine crisis.
Despite declining prices, nearly two-thirds of companies expect a significant impact of raw material costs on their business results. But that's a lot less than 2011 (91 percent). At that time, many raw materials were more expensive than ever before. With the economic and financial crisis, prices collapsed - a decline that has not been made up for today.
The low prices help the companies, but also lead to a certain levity. Because fewer and fewer companies hedge against price fluctuations or even waive the replacement of expensive raw materials. Although 58 percent of respondents believe that projects to reduce material use are suitable for optimizing the demand for raw materials. But less than half push this forward. "There are good approaches, but it often fails in the implementation," says Häfele. Often it lacks the necessary knowledge and sufficient staff.
The potential is immense, as shown by the example of a manufacturer in the electrical industry: In the production of contact pins, he has greatly reduced the amount of gold required through a smaller layer thickness and the change in production technology. Overall, the producer saves 40 kilograms of gold a year. This corresponds to a reduction of 75 percent. Not a small chunk at gold prices of just 1200 dollars per ounce (31,1 grams). "With such levers, in some cases considerably more can be achieved than through price negotiations," emphasizes Häfele.
Source: http://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/rohstoffe-devisen/rohstoffe/oel-und-kupfer-leichtsinnige-laßheit-bei-rohstoffen/11002942.html
