Mr Küpper, you said: "I stood for re-election even though I knew what to expect." What can you expect?
Clemens Küpper: Compared to the last election, the situation in our country has become so acute that more and more personal commitment is required to be successful in the association's work. Representing the interests of an industry that contributes so much to the circular economy, offers good jobs and produces state-of-the-art technological solutions actually seems easy. But representing these interests in the face of a lack of interest or at least a lack of information on the part of some politicians is a new and extremely demanding challenge. Working together with all colleagues from the association and from the ranks of the members against the feeling of powerlessness that we experience time and again and not letting up is something we will continue to face. Until it is recognised that our performance and the performance of all metalworkers creates the great competitive advantage in our country and perhaps even represents the DNA of our industrial country.
What projects would you like to focus on during your new term of office?
Clemens Küpper: BDGuss is a member organisation. Here, no one person makes decisions alone, but the members contribute their ideas via committees, executive boards and the presidium. These tasks and strategies are then taken over from Düsseldorf, from the House of the Foundry Industry with its main management and almost 40 employees, and serve as the basis for our work. The main tasks will include always having our finger on the pulse and maintaining a constant overview of technical and political developments. An extremely important part of this will be participating in EU committees and helping to shape the things that come from there. Another focus will be lobbying and explanatory work at federal and state level. To this end, the association is increasingly active directly and also offers all members a wide range of support. Recruiting young talent will continue to be an important issue for the industry. Here we are focussing strongly on continuing projects that have already been launched.
How do you intend to keep up the pressure on politicians for a better industrial policy in the face of falling energy prices? What can the BDG learn from the farmers?
Clemens Küpper: It's not easy to describe all the information on the subject of energy if you don't deal with it on a daily basis. A foundry that melts with gas is currently struggling with continuing high gas prices. And by struggling, we mean passing these costs on to the customer, as they are so enormously higher than before the war that a company cannot bear them alone. The price of gas is currently still significantly higher than it used to be. Companies that melt with electricity are noticing the same thing. According to the Merrit Order principle, the most expensive supplier is the one who sets the price. This is currently leading to electricity prices that are two to three times higher than pre-crisis levels and will probably continue to do so in the future. In Germany, this is compounded by the grid fees, which are currently around five cents. This means that electricity costs are still significantly higher than those of our competitors. Of course, we melt our metals with maximum scrap content, which in itself saves a huge amount of resources and energy, but the casting temperature simply has to be reached and this requires a lot of energy. For our iron foundry, the energy share is 15-20 per cent and therefore represents a massive cost block in the profit and loss account.
Clemens Küpper: Compared to the last election, the situation in our country has become so acute that more and more personal commitment is required to be successful in the association's work. Representing the interests of an industry that contributes so much to the circular economy, offers good jobs and produces state-of-the-art technological solutions actually seems easy. But representing these interests in the face of a lack of interest or at least a lack of information on the part of some politicians is a new and extremely demanding challenge. Working together with all colleagues from the association and from the ranks of the members against the feeling of powerlessness that we experience time and again and not letting up is something we will continue to face. Until it is recognised that our performance and the performance of all metalworkers creates the great competitive advantage in our country and perhaps even represents the DNA of our industrial country.
What projects would you like to focus on during your new term of office?
Clemens Küpper: BDGuss is a member organisation. Here, no one person makes decisions alone, but the members contribute their ideas via committees, executive boards and the presidium. These tasks and strategies are then taken over from Düsseldorf, from the House of the Foundry Industry with its main management and almost 40 employees, and serve as the basis for our work. The main tasks will include always having our finger on the pulse and maintaining a constant overview of technical and political developments. An extremely important part of this will be participating in EU committees and helping to shape the things that come from there. Another focus will be lobbying and explanatory work at federal and state level. To this end, the association is increasingly active directly and also offers all members a wide range of support. Recruiting young talent will continue to be an important issue for the industry. Here we are focussing strongly on continuing projects that have already been launched.
How do you intend to keep up the pressure on politicians for a better industrial policy in the face of falling energy prices? What can the BDG learn from the farmers?
Clemens Küpper: It's not easy to describe all the information on the subject of energy if you don't deal with it on a daily basis. A foundry that melts with gas is currently struggling with continuing high gas prices. And by struggling, we mean passing these costs on to the customer, as they are so enormously higher than before the war that a company cannot bear them alone. The price of gas is currently still significantly higher than it used to be. Companies that melt with electricity are noticing the same thing. According to the Merrit Order principle, the most expensive supplier is the one who sets the price. This is currently leading to electricity prices that are two to three times higher than pre-crisis levels and will probably continue to do so in the future. In Germany, this is compounded by the grid fees, which are currently around five cents. This means that electricity costs are still significantly higher than those of our competitors. Of course, we melt our metals with maximum scrap content, which in itself saves a huge amount of resources and energy, but the casting temperature simply has to be reached and this requires a lot of energy. For our iron foundry, the energy share is 15-20 per cent and therefore represents a massive cost block in the profit and loss account.
