Portuguese metallurgy sets export record
by David Fleschen
The metal sector recorded a new record for exports in 2019, worth 19,590 million euros, announced the Association of Metallurgical, Metalworking and Related Industries of Portugal (AIMMAP).
"The sector that contributes the most to Portuguese GDP is once again proving its vitality with a new record of 19,590 million euros in the value of exports," the association said in a statement.
Regarding the destination of exports last year, the main countries were Spain, Germany and France, with a value of 4,723 million, 3,265 million and 3,034 million euros, respectively.
In relation to growth, in a year-on-year comparison, exports to Germany were the ones that rose the most, around 11.2%, followed by Spain, with an 8.8% growth in export volume, and France, with another 4.9%.
“The main challenge in 2019 was to continue to maintain the upward trend that over the last few years the Metal Portugal sector [a brand that combines metallurgical and metalworking companies] has consistently managed to achieve and continue to grow exports in the most relevant markets, which are Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, where, despite the 'brexit', we managed to maintain basically the same numbers as the previous year, ”Rafael Campos Pereira, vice president of AIMMAP, told Lusa.
However, that official admitted that the challenge of continuing to grow outside Europe was only “partially achieved”, since exports to the United States, the main market outside the European Union, remained at approximately the same values for the year previous (500 million euros), due to the commercial war that country has with China and also to certain restrictions of some American states regarding some products and equipment that can be considered as potential military material.
“However, there is substantial growth in the Canadian market, where we started exporting in 2019 with some significance”, underlined Rafael Campos Pereira.
The differentiation of products and equipment of Portuguese companies, the bet on 'design' and technology, as well as the “excellent quality / price ratio” of Portuguese products are the reasons highlighted by the vice president of AIMMAP for the growth of the sector's exports of the metal.
Regarding the epidemic caused by the coronavirus detected in Wuhan, China, and the consequences that it may have on business, Rafael Campos Pereira admitted that he was not very concerned, although he emphasized that any factor that could harm travel, could also harm in some way the Business.
“We do not buy much in China and China has not been one of our main markets in recent times […] what we are seeing is that, eventually, there has even been an increase in orders, probably as a result of the difficulties that China is passing through some subsectors ”, he clarified, adding that“ there are orders that are being withdrawn from China and are being located elsewhere ”.
The year of 2019 for the Portuguese metallurgical and metalworking sector was also marked by five monthly records, with the month of May representing “the best ever” for the sector with around 1,884 million euros in exports.
The months of March, September, October and November were the other four months with new highs, all of which registered values of more than 1,700 million euros.
"The sector that contributes the most to Portuguese GDP is once again proving its vitality with a new record of 19,590 million euros in the value of exports," the association said in a statement.
Regarding the destination of exports last year, the main countries were Spain, Germany and France, with a value of 4,723 million, 3,265 million and 3,034 million euros, respectively.
In relation to growth, in a year-on-year comparison, exports to Germany were the ones that rose the most, around 11.2%, followed by Spain, with an 8.8% growth in export volume, and France, with another 4.9%.
“The main challenge in 2019 was to continue to maintain the upward trend that over the last few years the Metal Portugal sector [a brand that combines metallurgical and metalworking companies] has consistently managed to achieve and continue to grow exports in the most relevant markets, which are Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, where, despite the 'brexit', we managed to maintain basically the same numbers as the previous year, ”Rafael Campos Pereira, vice president of AIMMAP, told Lusa.
However, that official admitted that the challenge of continuing to grow outside Europe was only “partially achieved”, since exports to the United States, the main market outside the European Union, remained at approximately the same values for the year previous (500 million euros), due to the commercial war that country has with China and also to certain restrictions of some American states regarding some products and equipment that can be considered as potential military material.
“However, there is substantial growth in the Canadian market, where we started exporting in 2019 with some significance”, underlined Rafael Campos Pereira.
The differentiation of products and equipment of Portuguese companies, the bet on 'design' and technology, as well as the “excellent quality / price ratio” of Portuguese products are the reasons highlighted by the vice president of AIMMAP for the growth of the sector's exports of the metal.
Regarding the epidemic caused by the coronavirus detected in Wuhan, China, and the consequences that it may have on business, Rafael Campos Pereira admitted that he was not very concerned, although he emphasized that any factor that could harm travel, could also harm in some way the Business.
“We do not buy much in China and China has not been one of our main markets in recent times […] what we are seeing is that, eventually, there has even been an increase in orders, probably as a result of the difficulties that China is passing through some subsectors ”, he clarified, adding that“ there are orders that are being withdrawn from China and are being located elsewhere ”.
The year of 2019 for the Portuguese metallurgical and metalworking sector was also marked by five monthly records, with the month of May representing “the best ever” for the sector with around 1,884 million euros in exports.
The months of March, September, October and November were the other four months with new highs, all of which registered values of more than 1,700 million euros.
Source and Photo: Bomdia