| Policy issues at European level affecting the metalworking or metal articles industry are handled by Orgalime’s Metal Articles Liaison Committee (MALC) and technical issues are dealt with in detail by various task forces. It also covers the relations of the metal articles industry with its suppliers, in particular the steel industry and its customers, in particular the rest of the engineering industries and the transport industry (automotive, rail and aerospace). Orgalime has therefore been reacting to this situation in a number of areas: see steel
The metal articles industry is a heterogeneous sector which includes a wide variety of products ranging from semi-finished products and goods sold to industry to end products sold directly to the consumer.
The metal articles industry is defined by chapter 27 and 28 of NACE Rev 1, including:
- castings of metals, which includes ferrous and non-ferrous metal castings (chapter 27.5 : NACE rev 1)
- structural metal products, which includes the manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures, metal building and construction products and railway tracks (chapter 28.1 : NACE Rev 1)
- tanks, reservoirs, boilers, metal containers and steam generators (chapter 28.2 and 28.3 : NACE Rev 1)
- forging, which includes drop forging, close die forging, pressing, stamping and roll forming (chapter 28.4 : NACE Rev 1)
- treatment and coating of metals, which includes the manufacture of articles on turning machines and chains, the treatment of metals and general mechanical engineering on a subcontract basis (chapter 28.5 : NACE Rev 1)
- tools and finished metal goods (accounting for some 40% of production), which includes the manufacture of durable and consumer goods for use in offices, gardening and household, etc… metal packaging and general hardware items (chapter 28.6 and 28.7 : NACE Rev 1).
Germany accounts for about one third of the EU industry's production, France one fifth, Italy and the UK just over 10%. With a turnover in the EU25 of 423 billion euro in 2005 according to our industry’s estimates, the metalworking sector is a major manufacturing branch in its own right; it is a major employer providing some 3.6 million jobs in the EU25 and, with some 93 billion euro of intra and extra-trade, it is also a major exporter.
ORGALIME metalworking industry
by sectors - 23 member countries
Production 2004
The industry produces, to a large extent, inputs or products used in other engineering sectors. According to EUROSTAT data the industry represents about 6.5% of the EU’s manufacturing output and counts some 369.000 companies among which an important part are SMEs, which are family owned. The importance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the sector is especially striking. According to EUROSTAT the number of metalworking companies has been rising between 1999 from 358 000 to 369 000 in 2001 accounting for a share of 17% of all manufacturing companies in the EU-25.
According to Orgalime economists the metal articles industry’s production is estimated to have reached a growth rate of 5.3 percent in 2006. The industry produces, to a large extent, inputs or products used in other sectors in engineering. Demand generated by other sectors of engineering increased throughout 2006 thereby giving support to the metal sector. Though the metal industry has limited dependence on exports, foreign trade picked up in 2006 and exports grew strongly by 6.8 percent in volume. At a sub-sector level, metal containers and tanks performed very well as well as traditional treatment and coating of metals. Since activity is still high in many other sectors that are important for metal goods, such as machinery and motor car industry, the outlook remains favourable for 2007. The metal goods industry is forecast to grow by 3.5 percent this year.
At consumer level companies in the sector face increasing competition from imports from countries enjoying lower labour costs while at industry level, they are caught between the major suppliers of raw materials and the major purchasers (automotive, mechanical and electrical engineering industries…). In the last two years the issue of steel prices and availability of steel have been at the centre of the industry's preoccupation.
The industry is becoming more complex as companies in the metal articles sector are not only being called on by their clients to supply finished metal articles made to specification, but are more and more involved in the design and marketing. Here the challenges of the sector are twofold: the cost of investment in R&D and design, often a heavy burden for companies lacking both the financial and human resources and the problem of counterfeiting which can rapidly erode any profit derived from investment in research. A number of Orgalime members regularly exchange information about trends in the subcontracting industry and the activities they pursue (subcontracting conditions, fairs, etc…)
Two directives stand out in the regulatory area of internal market legislation affecting metalworking: the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) which affects much of the tanks, reservoirs and boilers sector and the Construction Products Directive (CPD) which regulates many metal articles incorporated in buildings (fasteners, windows, doors, etc…).
Relationship between the CPD and LVD
Points of concern raised by our industry and proposals for improvement of the CPD have in the past been put forward by Orgalime to the Commission, in particular through a position paper on the relationship between the CPD and the LVD (Low Voltage Directive) in 1999 and a second position paper pointing out some issues to be solved and improvements to be made issued in October 2000.
At present, Orgalime is not directly active on this Directive, since work is essentially being carried out by the product sector organisations in the standardisation committees. We are however monitoring progress in this area and are kept informed by CEPMC, of which Orgalime is an associate member.
Aside from technical legislation there are a number of environmental issues which affect the metalworking industry such as:
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