Statistics Explained

Archive:Structural metal products manufacturing 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 manufacture of structural metal products, corresponding to NACE Rev 1.1 Group 28.1, which is part of the metals and metal products sector. Structural metal products include:

  • metal supports and structures;
  • prefabricated buildings;
  • metal doors;
  • window frames;
  • shutters.

The vast majority of structural metal products are destined for the construction sector (see Construction statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1). Demand is therefore closely linked to developments in the construction sector for new housing, renovation and civil engineering projects.

Table 1: Manufacture of structural metal products (NACE Group 28.1). Structural profile, EU-27, 2006

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

Table 2: Manufacture of structural metal products (NACE Group 28.1). Structural profile: ranking of top five Member States in terms of value added and persons employed, 2006
Table 3: Structural metal products (CPA Group 28.1). Production of selected products, EU-27, 2007 (1)
Table 4: Manufacture of structural metal products (NACE Group 28.1). Expenditure, productivity and profitability, EU-27, 2006

Structural metal products manufacturing (NACE Group 28.1) was the core activity of 121.7 thousand enterprises in the Member States and provided employment to just over 1.1 million persons in the EU-27 or about one in every five workers (22.0 %) within the metals and metal products manufacturing (NACE Subsection DJ) sector in 2006. The structural metal products manufacturing sector in the EU-27 had a turnover of EUR 123.1 billion in 2006, almost one third (33.2 %) of which was retained as added value. Of the EUR 40.8 billion of value added generated by the EU-27’s structural metal products sector in 2006, seven tenths (70.8 %) came from the manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures subsector (NACE Class 28.11), the remainder coming from the manufacture of builders’ carpentry and joinery of metal subsector (NACE Class 28.12).

Germany had the largest structural metal products manufacturing sector within the EU-27, contributing a little over one fifth (22.5 %) of all the value added generated among the Member States. The second and third largest contributions were from Italy (16.4 % of the EU-27’s value added) and Spain (13.6 %). In terms of the relative contribution of the value added generated by the structural metal products sector to the non-financial business economy, Greece was the most specialised Member State[1] in this activity, its contribution of 1.2 % being about two thirds more than the EU-27 average. In these terms, Slovenia and then Italy were the next most specialised Member States in structural metals products manufacturing.

The development of the production index for structural metals products manufacturing during the ten years through to 2007 was broadly similar to that for metals and metal products manufacturing, except that the period of relatively unchanged output that started in 2000 extended beyond 2003 to 2005. Either side of this period of stability, output growth was stronger for structural metals products manufacturing than for metals and metal products as a whole, which was reflected in a faster rate of output growth for structural metal products manufacturing over the ten years through to 2007 (an average rate of growth of 2.7 % per year compared with 2.1 % per year).

Expenditure and productivity

Tangible investment in the EU-27’s structural metal products manufacturing sector was EUR 4.2 billion in 2006, accounting for an eighth (12.5 %) of all tangible investment in the activities of metals and metal products manufacturing. In comparison with value added generated, this level of tangible investment represented an investment rate of 10.2 % for the EU-27’s structural metal products manufacturing activities in 2006, notably less than the average investment rate (13.6 %) for all metal and metal products manufacturing activities.

Average personnel costs within the EU-27’s structural metal products manufacturing sector were EUR 26.3 thousand per employee in 2006, the lowest average among the dozen NACE groups that comprise metals and metal products manufacturing, and approaching one fifth lower (18.4 %) than the average for metals and metal products manufacturing activities. Nevertheless, personnel costs accounted for a higher proportion of operating expenditure in the structural metal products manufacturing sector than was the case across all metals and metal products manufacturing activities (23.7 % compared with 19.2 %), supporting the notion that this was a relatively low-cost, labour-intensive sector.

EU-27 apparent labour productivity of EUR 36.6 thousand per person employed in the structural metal products manufacturing sector was the lowest among the NACE groups within the metals and metal products manufacturing sector in 2006 and about one quarter (24.0 %) less than the average for all such activities. Productivity remained relatively low, even after adjustments for low average personnel costs; the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the EU-27’s structural metal products manufacturing sector was 139.1 % in 2006 compared with a ratio of 149.3 % for all metals and metal products manufacturing activities. This was a characteristic noted across the vast majority of the Member States, exceptions being limited to Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.

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 the PRODCOM statistics on the production of manufactured goods.

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

Notes

  1. ↑ Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland and Romania, 2005; Malta and the Netherlands, not available.
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