Expensive gases and risky contracts: Paper mills, closures on the horizon

For Cartera del Polisine, the cost of the July bill, adding gas and electricity, was 9 million, four times the cost of the same period last year. The fear for them is to get into the hypothetical procedure: when a company runs out of a gas resource, the hump network guarantees power for 60 days, at increased prices, after which the tap stops, and so does the company.

Borgo, one of the leaders in the paper sector – with revenues of 1.8 billion, 11 factories and 3,125 employees – is in the same position: Eni does not renew its supplies. For them the alternative is Shell or Edison, who have fewer problems finding raw materials but offer high numbers and guarantees. Same scenario: 1 month up front and guarantees. And here at Borgo they remind us that, meanwhile, gas has already seen a 30-fold increase in the span of a year and a half.

Who is salvation?

The luckiest are those who signed contracts between March and April to avoid the fall crisis. “Few are those who save themselves from the fear of conducting power defaults – says Lorenzo Poli, president of Assocarta – there were those who were far-sighted or just lucky to renegotiate agreements in the spring. But the heat year usually ends on September 30th. We hope that the situation will be clear by the end of August.” The general demand is that the government consider setting a cap on the price of gas. Or will the default procedure be frozen throughout 2023. Who will take care of it? Now the next CEO. But the issue has so far been absent from election campaigns, on the Although companies are feeling strong, more and more are imminent.

sector

154 institutions
In 2021, the paper industry had 119 companies, 154 factories and 19,050 employees, with a production of 9.6 million tons.
8.2 billion euros
Last year, the sector’s turnover, according to Asukarta data, was $8.2 billion, of which $4.1 billion was thanks to exports.