By P Gosselin
As Germany’s electricity and natural gas prices soar, a wave of companies – some having a long tradition – are filing insolvency. Many midsize companies rely on natural gas as a source of energy, but prices have multiplied since early this year.
Blackout News here reports toilet paper maker Hakle has filed for insolvency, citing “increased energy costs”.
“Tenfold increase in gas and electricity prices”
Others include shoe retailer Görtz, who cite low sales as consumers cut back on their discretionary spending, and automobile supplier Dr. Schneider. Steel producer ArcelorMittal in Hamburg und Bremen are also following.
“With a tenfold increase in gas and electricity prices, which we had to accept within a few months, we are no longer competitive in a market that is 25% supplied by imports. We see an urgent need for political action to get energy prices under control immediately,” said Reiner Blaschek, CEO of ArcelorMittal Germany (Financial Market World).
Another industry sector facing extreme hardship is the bakery industry, which relies heavily of affordable energy. According to Blackout News: “For bakeries, the energy crisis is now worse than the Corona pandemic, according to industry sources. ‘We have the problem as a micro baker that we have to adjust our prices to the raw material and energy prices, of course, which also burdens the customer, if he is also a bit tighter on cash,’ says an affected baker from Heilbronn.”
One baker in our local area has seen his monthly gas bills go from 3000 euros earlier this year to 11,000 euros!
“Severe and long-lasting recession”
The wave of insolvencies has just begun, and is “picking up speed”, writes Blackout News. “What we are seeing now is just the tip of an iceberg. Increased energy prices are affecting all industries, whether directly, as in the case of steel mills and bakeries, or indirectly, as in the case of shoe retailer Görtz. If politicians do not take countermeasures here, Germany will fall into a severe and long-lasting recession, with mass unemployment and a massive loss of prosperity.”
The bakery industry has not yet seen seriously increased costs for raw materials.
As they cease use of fertilizer, increased fuel costs to harvest and process wheat, flour costs will similarly go through the roof.
Then there are the industries where LNG serves as the raw feedstock for producing plastics and tires. Increased production costs due to high LNG prices will be dwarfed by the costs for manufacturing plastics and tires.
Watch Germany’s politicians decide to purchase from China and then resell as German products.
I was looking at Rowenta products last week. The “where manufactured” label states “designed in Germany, manufactured in China”.
With many German companies already filing for insolvency, Germany is already in a Recession if not Depression.
Industrial demand for electricity has fallen 20% in the UK since 2000. Some is due to improved usage but most to outsourcing to China.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/88331/#88344
I have no words. How can people be so stupid?
The start of an unparalleled economic disaster across Germany and Europe. Will make the Great Depression seem like a walk in the park.
“Everything is Biden’s fault”, the Trumpers exclaim. Socialism is evil, the corporate shills scream.
I’d like to show you how a little socialism benefits a city in SC for decades:
Orangeburg, SC, a city of about 50K now, was too small to be bothered with when they wired SC. So, the people of Orangeburg socialized every utility except cable TV into the Department of Public Utilities…gas, water, sewer, and electricity! DPU webpage is a study in how good socialism in America can work for all.
https://www.orbgdpu.com/
Explore their offering and you’ll want ConEd heads on a plate!
Here’s electric rates for homes.
$12/meter/month plus $0.038/KWH first 500 KWH then it DROPS to $).0304/KWH after first 500 KWH!
THREE CENTS PER KWH 24/7!
They also have 3 HUGE natural gas diesel plants to power the city if the grid fails!
Compare Orangeburg’s citizen owned and controlled socialist public utilities rates with your greedy corporate utility companies….3.8 cents per kilowatt hour 24/7/365
The crisis could be easily stopped by leavin these self-harming sactions and opening Nord Stream 2 for Gas supply. Dut our German pride and our commander-in-chief in the US won’t allow this. Once we Germans have started something we will carry it out until the Endsieg.
President Trump warned. Germany would be collateral damage and a total loss unless they started buying US LNG four years ago.
Everyone should say, “Danke, Muttie!!”
They all voted for the Green insanity that underlies this situation. I have no sympathy for any of them.
Are they still laughing?
When you have third world schools that teach man made climate change then you soon have third world poverty like Germany.
Hope I can buy a new Mercedes soon to lend them a hand…. they are getting reamed in a way almost unimaginable. Their government is as bad as our own. Biden has nearly tapped out the strategic petroleum reserve to I’m expecting fuel here to shoot back through the roof again probably in the next week or two. Can’t bother letting the oil industry actually do what it was doing 3 years ago. Anyone fully buying into current “green energy” is putting their own stupidity, ignorance and infantile emotional state on display. If you buy an EV you should be forced to keep the dead $20K battery in your back yard when it croaks.
Why would the Germans with their long, horrible history with the USSR and now Russia farm out the country’s energy supplies to the communists? Now that energy costs are out of control, this with the mass onslaught of Muslims who seem to have problems assimilating into the country is a path to poverty, recession and maybe depression! Enjoy the dance with the bear comrades.
Still laughing at Herr Trump?
they have the German public right where they want them, begging them for help. you never want to be in that position, because the short term gain won’t be worth the long term pain. but the majority voted for windmills and mirrors…I feel sorry for those who didn’t
Don’t call it “The Great Reset”. Call it “The Great Swap”!
It’s become obvious now to anyone who spends a little effort looking into the future, that today’s rich western countries will swap with their poor eastern counter-parts in terms of livability and quality of life. Countries like India will continue to grow to become richer, highly affordable, fully modernized societies while the likes of the U.S. and Germany are beginning their unfortunate and unneccessary descents into 3rd world countries.
The West’s purely financially motivated green-agenda and the corrupted governments who share in the enormous profits of the highly flawed renewable energy industry have already convinced their populations to accept a much poorer lifestyle as a way to “Save The Earth”. The majority of greedy western leaders and the sheeple citzentry who they have programmed with irreparably intolerant views towards common sense, logic and reasoning will work together to make The Great Swap happen. Just watch!
Perhaps the populace will pool their energies and resources to rebel against the governing and elitist class who did this to them. Perhaps not.
Go green and soon your bank account will be lean
How’s that “Green” thing working out for you Deutschland?
The problem was Angela Merkel and the Greens in Germany. Despite being some of the smartest people, the Germans continue to make some to the dumbest decisions EVER. The German people elected this woman time and again. Was there no better candidate? Shut down their nukes and then replace with natural gas from Russia. Stupidity squared.
if only someone had warned them about their foolish reliance on Russian oil.
These folks need to understand their suffering is for the greater good, like fixing global warming, and making elitists richer, the noblest, and actually the only cause of your pain.
Wait until winter and usage increases. Can you say depression?
Does anyone remember the German delegation at the UN a few years ago, smirking and snickering as Trump told them that this would be the result of their energy policies?
Pepperidge Farm remembers. The Germans sure aren’t laughing now.
Spot on my friend!
Perhaps E.U. governments should not have been so eager to ‘sanction’ a country (Russia) who was fighting Azov NAZIS in eastern Ukraine? i.e. Biden and NATO were the provocateurs.