The companies of amec amelec, the Spanish electrical equipment association, met on November 19 in a virtual meeting in which they shared the situation experienced in a year troubled by the impact of the pandemic and their expectations for the year 2021.
The president of amec amelec and general director of the Consortium of Electrical Material Manufacturers (COFME), Carlos Sánchez, explained that after the fall from March there was a subsequent sales record in June, July and August, especially in the national market, which slowed down in September. With all this, the sector is less pessimistic than in the first four months: it contemplates a drop in turnover of between 5% and 15% this year and hopes to be able to match the 2019 figures from mid-2021.
The effects depend on the subsector, as some have been considered essential and have not stopped their activity. That is why the electrical area works very well and the rehabilitation area works well and this year it will equal the 2019 figures. However, “the large projects have come to a standstill and we suffer a slowdown, with long processes of deliberation by the client, but finally the orders come out”, explained the president of amec amelec and COFME.
The pandemic has highlighted the need for direct contact with the customer, and those companies with subsidiaries in the markets have been able to perform better and have suffered less impact. «We are increasingly convinced of the importance of having a presence in the markets, and the focus is increasingly on inorganic growth with the opening of subsidiaries or the purchase of companies abroad,» Sánchez explained.
The rising prices of raw materials from Southeast Asia, as well as the difficulty of supplies and adaptation to the circular economy has placed «the logistics areas and the supply chain of companies in elements that will become strategic in the short term, medium and long term”, has indicated the president of amec amelec. Sánchez has called for greater involvement and help from the government in the sector.
The evolution of the main markets
France, the USA, Germany, Portugal and the United Kingdom are the main markets to which Spanish companies in the sector export. From January to August, the United States is the only market in which Spanish exports have increased compared to the previous year. The decline has been pronounced in France, the United Kingdom and Italy, as explained by the deputy director of amec amelec, Paula Camacho, who has analyzed the behavior by subsectors.
Camacho explained the main global trends in the sector: connected lighting, energy efficiency, decentralization of generation, the need for integrated digital platforms … A whole set of factors that show how the sector is facing an important transformation. New opportunities and business niches are also detected: “Covid-19 is changing homes. People spend more time at home, and they are adapting them to work and carry out their activities”, explained Camacho. Increasing awareness of climate change in developing and Asian countries, where the middle class is expanding, also makes these areas very attractive new markets for the sector.
New actions to adapt to the new environment and reach the markets
amec amelec faces 2021 with new proposals in line with its mission: to provide companies with the tools to adapt and be competitive in the current environment by promoting the new key competitive factors, which are anticipation, adaptability, collaboration, glocalization and sustainability.
For the design of the proposals, the amec amelec impact system intervenes, implemented in the organization to constantly adapt it to the needs of companies and ensure that its action directly affects an increase in the competitiveness of its members.
At the beginning of 2021, amec amelec will bring its members closer to the markets and for sale whatever the scenario of the pandemic. In the first quarter, amec amelec will launch several virtual business missions. The shares combine both traditional markets and markets with greater future interest, since amec amelec and works to identify interesting markets in the medium and long term, that is, those that have a very important growth potential and in which they understand companies have to be introduced little by little. Some of the business missions that amec prepares are directed to countries such as the USA, Sweden, Vietnam, Russia, Morocco, Algeria and Ghana.
amec amelec is also immersed in the celebration of the 2021 editions of the MEE (Dubai), the Hannover Messe (Germany) and CIGRE (France), and is also working on the creation of a new event in 2021 dedicated to the EPC channel (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and which aspires to become the reference event for this sales channel within the sector.