Italian industries risk losing market share ‘irreversibly’ due to high energy prices.
Confindustria analysis of rising energy prices.
The price of electricity continues to record highs, and in December it reached the highest monthly average since the Italian stock exchange was set up, exceeding €280/MWh with a +450% increase compared to its value in January 2021. The price of natural gas has progressively risen since last May and shows an increase of +423% during 2021 until December, with a price that has more than quintupled.
All this implies a very large increase in energy supply costs for Italian manufacturing, from around EUR 8 billion in 2019 to EUR 21 billion in 2021, with the prospect of rising to EUR 37 billion in 2022.
Italian manufacturing sectors, Confindustria points out, are facing ‘a dramatic increase in energy commodity costs’.