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Archive:Precious and non-ferrous metal production 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 the production of precious and non-ferrous metals, corresponding to NACE Rev 1.1 Group 27.4, which is part of the metals and metal products sector. The activities covered in this article consist of a wide range of metals other than iron and steel, including:

  • precious metals (such as gold, silver and platinum);
  • common metals (such as aluminium, lead, zinc, tin, copper, chrome, nickel and manganese).
Table 1: Manufacture of basic precious and non-ferrous metals (NACE Group 27.4). Structural profile: ranking of top five Member States in terms of value added and persons employed, 2006

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

Table 2: Manufacture of basic precious and non-ferrous metals (NACE Group 27.4). Expenditure, productivity and profitability, EU-27, 2006

There were 3.6 thousand enterprises in the EU-27’s basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing (NACE Group 27.4) sector, which generated EUR 17.8 billion of value added and employed 221.5 thousand persons in 2006, making it one of the smaller activities within the metals and metal products (NACE Subsection DJ) manufacturing sector; it accounted for 7.3 % of value added and 4.4 % of employment within metals and metal products manufacturing.

By far the largest of the five NACE class activities within the EU-27’s basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing sector was the aluminium production subsector (NACE Class 27.42), which generated EUR 9.1 billion of added value in 2006. The copper production subsector (NACE Class 27.44) was the next largest, creating added value across the EU-27 of EUR 3.9 billion, the equivalent of just over a fifth (21.8 %) of the total within the activities of basic precious and non-ferrous metals.

As with metals and metal products manufacturing as a whole, Germany had the largest basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing sector in the EU-27; it contributed over one quarter (28.1 %) of the value added generated by basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing in the Member States in 2006. In relation to its non-financial business economy, the basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing sector of Bulgaria (1.3 %) generated by far the highest value added in 2006, approaching five times the average contribution within the EU-27.

There was a distinct parting of the developments in the production indices for basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing and metals and metal products manufacturing as a whole after 2000. Whereas the output of metals and metal products manufacturing stabilised in the period between 2000 and 2003 before rising strongly through until 2007, the output of basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing declined steadily through until 2003 after which there was a muted and uncertain rebound to a level in 2007 that remained 3.5 % below its relative peak of 2000.

Expenditure and productivity

Tangible investment in the EU-27’s basic precious and non-ferrous metals manufacturing sector was EUR 2.3 billion in 2005, corresponding to 8.5 % of total tangible investment in the metals and metal products manufacturing sector. When compared with the value added generated by this sector, this produced an investment rate of 15.8 % in 2005, notably higher than the rate (12.2 %) across the whole of the metals and metal products manufacturing sector in the same year.

The proportion of operating expenditure accounted for by personnel costs in the basic precious and non-ferrous metals sector was low (8.1 % in 2006), less than half the average across metals and metal products manufacturing (19.2 %) and among the lowest rates for industrial activities. This was despite average personnel costs being about EUR 10.5 thousand per employee higher in 2006 than the metals and metal products manufacturing average.

Each person employed in the EU-27’s basic precious and non-ferrous metals sector contributed an average of EUR 80.6 thousand of value added in 2006, about EUR 32.5 thousand per person employed more than the average for metals and metal products manufacturing. This relatively high level of apparent labour productivity more than covered high average personnel costs, resulting in a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 188.5 % for the EU-27’s basic precious and non-ferrous metals sector in 2006, much higher than the ratio (149.3 %) for metals and metal products manufacturing as a whole. This was a characteristic noted in the vast majority of Member States, but particularly so in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain and Slovakia. The principal exceptions were Ireland and Portugal (2005), where wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios of the basic precious and non-ferrous metals sector were below metals and metal products manufacturing averages.

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.

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

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

Dedicated section

Further information

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