This week, the Executive finally gave the green light to the call for aid with a maximum of 450 million euros for gas-intensive industrial companies. With this measure the Government will seek to compensate for the exceptional increase in natural gas costs that has hampered the industry since the start of the war in Ukraine. As explained last Tuesday by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism , in a press release sent after the Council of Ministers , among the potential beneficiaries are sectors of the food, pulp and paper, basic chemicals, glass industries. , tiles, frits and enamels and other ceramic products, lime and plaster, as well as others linked to basic metals. Ceramic factory interior. Strike in the sector. Cogeneration One of the sectors that has seen the most compromised activity during the last year has been the Castellón tile sector. Known for being one of the main production and export centers of tiles and ceramics in Europe, there are already close to 100 companies that have had to take advantage of ERTEs - with close to 12,000 workers affected - since January 2022 and more than 1,000 jobs that have been lost. Defenseless against the competition The Spanish Association of Ceramic Tile and Flooring Manufacturers (ASCER) assures this medium that "the call and order are what we have been waiting for since the beginning of the year.
The measures were announced on December 28 with RDL 20/2022 and they were already late . The sector will still have to wait for the publication of the call so that Phone Number List the affected companies can submit applications. That, they say, means that "the aid would not arrive until the end of this year while our competitors have been enjoying aid since the beginning of 2022. " «We also continue to have the problem of compliance with the payment deadline requirement of the Delinquency Law, which is still in force and is payable either at the time of the request or six months after collecting them. This means that, in an export sector like ours, many companies will not be able to enjoy this aid ," the tile employers say. And they conclude: «The recently approved exception, being a positive aspect that aims to help the affected companies, fails in the analysis since, regardless of the deadline given, it will leave out of the aid precisely those companies that They need them the most and those who have more freedom in their treasury will be helped . The sector continues to demand greater urgency in granting aid. They assure that the Government's response is not at the level of its competitors and that this makes them lose competitiveness. Cluster of affected people Just a week ago, the social and business movement "Salvem Castelló" - which brings together 15 associations including Ascer , the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV) , Workers' Commissions of Cormarques del Nord (CCOO) or the Chamber of Commerce of Castellón -, published the "Manifesto for the maintenance of the economy of Castellón." In it they explain how, since the end of 2021, the gas-intensive industry “has been suffering an increase in the price of energy never seen before.
Gas, the main energy that powers the Castellón furnaces, has seen its price increase more than fifteenfold, going from the usual €15-€20/MWh that had been paid throughout the previous decade to €345/MWh that was reached pay in August of last year . For this reason, they consider the ceiling of 450 million euros insufficient for all Spanish gas-intensive industries. Only the tile sector of Castellón, they explain in the text, has suffered an extra cost in the energy bill of nearly 2,000 million euros in three years. «The situation for the economy of the entire province of Castellón is compromised, in the last nine months in ceramics alone more than 1,000 jobs have been destroyed and more than 10,000 people have experienced an ERTE that could have been less harmful if the government had "RED ERTEs have been authorized for the sector ," they say from the platform. Two forms of support The purpose of this call is the granting of aid aimed at industrial facilities with high consumption of natural gas to compensate for the increase in associated costs in 2022 due to the energy crisis. Facilities eligible for aid are those that meet minimum thresholds for annual consumption and consumption intensity, defined as the ratio between natural gas consumption and the gross added value of the facility, and must operate in one of the eligible sectors. included in the standard. Two possibilities of support are foreseen, on the one hand, aid for 50% of eligible costs up to a maximum of 4 million euros per business group for the entire temporal scope of application. The other option would reach 40% of the eligible costs up to a maximum of 25 million euros for the entire temporal scope of application, provided that the beneficiary demonstrates that its EBITDA has been reduced by 30% or more in relation to the previous situation. to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The natural gas prices used to calculate the eligible cost are those actually paid by the company, for all its activities, including those that are not eligible. This compensation mechanism is in line with the European Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework on state aid measures to support the economy after the aggression against Ukraine.