The UMC takes stock of the situation of the Metal in Catalonia

On November 17 in Lleida the representatives met of Unió metal·lúrgica de catalunya (UMC), consisting of the Patron Saint Festival provincial of the metal Apemta of Tarragona, Fegmetall of Girona, Lleida Femel and UPM in Barcelona. The meeting, chaired by Antoni Marsal (UPM), served to confirm the cohesion of the sector of the Catalan Metal formed by over 20,000 companies and nearly 300,000 workers.

All participants expressed concern about the current situation. Despite the improvement in activity registered before the summer, thanks to the increase in exports and a timely recovery in domestic consumption, the data reflect still negative results. The Catalan metal production shows a decline of 5.3% in the month of September compared to the same year in the month of the year earlier, while the occupation has been 8.4% in relation to the month of December (approximately 15,000 people). The rise in VAT, the termination of subsidies for the purchase of durable goods, the financial difficulties of the public sector and, in general, the lack of confidence of economic operators, among others, make it difficult for an orderly and sustainable exit from the crisis and lengthen the uncertainty. Problems as a weakness of the internal market, late payments and the lack of funding continue to be the workhorse of the companies in the sector.

For the next few months the forecasts are not too positive. One cannot speak, in the best cases, of a stalemate in the situation of the sector, at least until the spring of 2011 and then it is not clear what will happen. With respect to the occupation, the prospects do not allow advance any change in the trend to believe in creation of jobs. A response to the crisis is internationalization, field in which different organizations of the sector in Catalonia have applied major efforts throughout 2010, through more than 100 trade promotion initiatives in which participated more than 300 companies.