Focusing on the availability of materials to ensure continuity and punctuality: even more than competition on price, this focus will be the trump card in the hands of manufacturers in the coming months.
Even if the recent events, from the pandemic to the Ukrainian war, may lead to the temptation to adopt a wait-and-see policy hoping for a - in my opinion improbable - drop in the cost of steel, I believe that stocking the available material when needed is the most forward-looking choice.
In our opinion, being able to continue to meet the needs of customers even in an objectively unfavorable moment and provide a high-quality on-time service is the safest way to not only maintain, but also make our presence on the market even more stable and reliable.Of course, it is not an easy period for everyone to see, it is useless to hide it: in the last twelve months the cost of energy has increased by more than 300% compared to the average price recorded between 2015 and 2019 (20 euros/MWh). The cost of gas, which saw an increase of 1500% (300 euros/MWh), was even worse. The results of the energy crisis in the last few days have become more pressing, causing costs to rise vertiginously, with a forecast of the PUN over 700 euros/MWh at the end of year 2022.
This situation negatively affects the competitiveness of Italian companies. On the other hand, their European competitors have suffered the effects of the energy crisis, but not in such an accentuated way: and this is actually curious, since Europe should move under a single flag. Given the heavy mysteries on the future trend, this means today, even for our company, not being able to make medium-long term projects with customers and above all not being able to allow exceptions to the strict commercial measures undertaken.
Despite this, we will aim for continuity in stocking materials, continuity in deliveries, continuity in quality: this strategy is not only the sole workable one for Mauri, but also the only one that can bear fruit in the future.