energy SOS of the Catalan SMEs in the face of the runaway escalation in electricity and gas prices. “If we don’t take urgent measures, companies will close and there will be people who will lose their jobs,” warned the president of Pimec, Antoni Canete. The employers’ association warns that the rise in fuel and gas prices is sinking the margins of part of the Catalan business fabric and that this can translate into the loss of 320,000 jobs in the short term. That is to say, 9% of those employed in Catalonia. From the business entity they demand that the Government intervene immediately in the energy pricing system, in order to exclude gas and limit the benefits of energy companies.
According to a survey carried out by Pimec during the month of February -before the war- among 350 of its associates, more than half of the companies have seen their energy bill 200%. With special affectation between the industry sector, where said percentage rises to 85%. All this directly torpedoes the viability of companies, especially small and medium-sized ones. According to Pimec data, the 16.4% of SMEs It was already in an extreme situation before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the continuity of its activity is unknown for the coming months. To these is added another 45.6% of SMEs that recognize that, despite not being on the verge of closure, it is having serious effects that could translate into temporary adjustments in the coming weeks, via ertes.
The more or less direct impact of the war in Ukraine is already being felt among the business fabric of all of Spain. In the Seat Martorell factory there are already forecasts of a lack of components in the coming weeks due to the logistical effects of the war on the Volkswagen group’s supply chain. The other Catalan employer Workforce Development already warned this past Tuesday that the transport industry of people by road would soon have serious viability problems given the rise in fuel prices and the difficulty of passing on prices as tariffs are regulated. Also in sectors of high energy intensity there are the first adjustments, as is the case of Arcelor, which has stopped its production in the Basque Country and does not rule out doing so in Asturias if the rise is not controlled.
Limit the benefits of energy
From Pimec they have demanded urgent measures from the Administration to prevent these forecasts of closures and adjustments from being fulfilled. And they urge the Government to intervene in the pricing system to limit those known as ‘heaven-sent profits‘. The Spanish electricity system is based on a marginalist logic, that is, the different energies are auctioned and it is the last to match supply and demand that sets the price for the rest. That is, you end up paying the most expensive.
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“It’s an excessive benefit,” Cañete denounced, which directly attacks “the competitiveness and profitability of SMEs.” And said “excessive benefit” has been encrypted by the employers in 76,659 million euros that the large energy companies take each year. Or what is the same, 1,700 euros per person. In addition to limiting said returns, via a temporary tax, the business entity is also committed to fiscal measures to limit the collection of the public sector in relation to energy and more investment in renewable energy.
The rise in prices recently fueled by the war in Ukraine, but which households and businesses have suffered for months, will not stop in the short term. Well, according to Pimec data, the rise in energy causes part of the companies to transfer said increase to the prices of the economy as a whole. Specifically three out of four SMEs is in the process of raising prices and, among these, one in four will do so substantially. The hotel and restaurant industry, which already before the war and during various phases of the pandemic have suffered closures and a drop in tourist visitors, is the sector that most expects to increase prices in the coming months.