Archive:Forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
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- Data from January 2009. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article belongs to a set of statistical articles which analyse the structure, development and characteristics of the various economic activities in the European Union (EU). The present article covers forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering, which is part of the metals and metal products sector. The activities covered in this article correspond to two different NACE Rev 1.1 groups, which are:
- forging, pressing, stamping and roll forming of metal (which corresponds to NACE Group 28.4);
- the treatment and coating of metal and general mechanical engineering, such as turning, milling, welding or planing (NACE Group 28.5).
Note that there are no external trade statistics for forging, pressing, stamping and roll forming metal services (CPA Group 28.4) or for treatment and coating of metal services and general mechanical engineering services (CPA Group 28.5).
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Main statistical findings
Structural profile
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Among the activities presented in the seven subsectors of the metals and metal products sector, the EU-27’s forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector (NACE Groups 28.4 and 28.5) was the largest in terms of enterprise numbers, persons employed and value added. The activities grouped within forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering were the principal activities of an estimated 158.0 thousand enterprises throughout the EU-27, providing employment for 1.4 million persons, about one in every four (28.2 %) of the metals and metal products (NACE Subsection DJ) workforce. The EU-27’s forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector generated EUR 60.2 billion of added value in 2006, about one quarter (24.6 %) of the total value added for metals and metal products manufacturing. About three quarters (72.2 %) of the EU-27’s value added in the forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector in 2006 came from the treatment and coating of metal and general mechanical engineering (NACE Group 28.5) subsector, the remaining share coming from the forging, pressing, stamping and roll forming of metal (NACE Group 28.4) subsector.
Germany made the largest contribution (23.7 %) to the value added created by the forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector across the EU-27 in 2006. It was only a little more than the contribution from Italy (22.1 %), the most specialised Member State in forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering, where these activities contributed 2.1 % of non-financial business economy value added in 2006, which was almost double the EU-27 average.
The development of the EU-27 production indices for the two NACE groups that make up forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering were very similar in the ten years through until 2007. They were also similar to the developments observed for metals and metal products as a whole until 2003, after which the rate of output growth was much faster for forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering. Over the period between 1997 and 2007, the average rate of growth in the output of forging, pressing, stamping and roll forming of metal was 4.2 % per year for the EU-27, while the corresponding rate for the treatment and coating of metal and general mechanical engineering was 4.4 %.
Expenditure and productivity
One quarter (24.6 %) of the tangible investment made in the EU-27’s metals and metal products manufacturing sector in 2006 was made in the forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector. In comparison with value added generated, the tangible investment of this sector (EUR 8.2 billion) corresponded to an investment rate of 13.6 %, identical to that recorded for metals and metal products manufacturing as a whole.
Although average personnel costs of EUR 31.1 thousand per employee in the EU-27’s forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector were a little below the average for metals and metal products manufacturing in 2006, the proportion of operating expenditure accounted for by personnel costs was much higher (27.9 % compared with 19.2 %). This was the highest share among the activities covered in the seven subsectors of the metals and metal products sector, reflecting the industrial service nature of the sector.
The apparent labour productivity of those employed across the EU-27 in the forging, metal coating and mechanical engineering sector was EUR 42.1 thousand per person employed in 2006, which covered average personnel costs by 135.0 %. This wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio was beneath the average for the whole of metals and metal products manufacturing (149.3 %), a characteristic that was noted in all Member States for which data is available[1], with the exception of Ireland where it was slightly higher.
Data sources and availability
The main part of the analysis in this article is derived from structural business statistics (SBS), including core, business statistics which are disseminated regularly, as well as information compiled on a multi-yearly basis, and the latest results from development projects.
Other data sources include short-term statistics (STS).
Context
The metals and metal products manufacturing sector is part of a diverse and interwoven economic network that incorporates upstream sectors and large downstream segments of manufacturing such as the transport equipment manufacturing and construction sectors. The challenges faced by the EU’s metals and metal products manufacturing sector therefore have direct and indirect consequences on many other parts of the economy. Looking ahead, a Communication (COM(2008) 108) from the European Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the competitiveness of the metals industries was adopted in February 2008, and highlighted the challenges to be faced.
The EU-27 is largely dependent on imports of ore and concentrates for steel, ferro-alloys and non-ferrous metals production; it produces only 1.7 % of the world’s nickel, 2 % of its iron ore and 5 % of its copper (SEC(2007) 771). Access to minerals and secondary raw materials at competitive prices is important, especially given the exhaustion of certain deposits in the EU-27 over time or their absence, and supply constraints that have been exacerbated by the strong growth in international demand from emerging economies such as China and India. This concern was part of a raw materials initiative of the European Commission (COM(2008) 699)
Parts of the metals and metal products manufacturing sector are highly energy-intensive. Energy costs for the EU-27’s metals and metal products manufacturing sector accounted for 4.4 % of purchases of goods and services in 2006, which was the third joint highest proportion among the industrial structural business statistics sectors, albeit well behind non-energy mining and quarrying (10.1 %) and other nonmetallic mineral products (9.5 %). Within this sector, however, energy costs in the casting of metals subsector accounted for 7.2 % of purchases of goods and services in 2006 and in the first processing of ferrous metals as much as 7.9 %. This level of energy consumption has important implications for energy and environmental (particularly climate change) policy.
The metals and metal products manufacturing sector is covered by a Directive on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) and REACH. A proposal from the European Commission on the review of EU Emissions trading system (ETS) adopted in January 2008 (COM(2008) 30) foresees the inclusion of non-ferrous metals from 2013 onwards, along with some transitional measures to avoid ‘carbon leakage’.
See also
- Climate change statistics
- Construction statistics - NACE Rev. 2
- Industry and construction introduced
- Industry and construction statistics - short-term indicators
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European Business: Facts and figures - 2009 edition
- The REACH baseline study - A tool to monitor the new EU policy on chemicals - Statistics in focus 48/2009
Main tables
Database
Dedicated section
Further information
- SEC(2007) 771 - Analysis of the competitiveness of the non-energy extractive industry in the EU
- COM(2008) 30 final - Europe's climate change opportunity
- COM(2008) 108 final - A contribution to the EU's Growth and Jobs Strategy
- COM(2008) 699 final - The raw materials initiative — meeting our critical needs for growth and jobs in Europe
Notes
- ↑ The Netherlands, Poland and Portugal, 2005; Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Malta, not available.