Reuters: Bankruptcy News: Power costs threaten German metals sector- lobby

Reuters: Bankruptcy News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Power costs threaten German metals sector- lobby May 7th 2012, 14:24 Mon May 7, 2012 10:24am EDT * Insolvency of aluminium plant shows cost burden * German metals sector needs affordable power HAMBURG May 7 (Reuters) - The insolvency of Germany's third-largest aluminium producer illustrates high power costs are threatening the future of the country's metal production industry, the WVM trade body said on Monday. Voerde Aluminium GmbH said on Friday it had declared insolvency. The company will continue production operations of 115,000 tonnes and seek to restructure. "The production of metals, especially aluminium, is endangered by high electricity costs which are no longer internationally competitive," WVM president Ulrich Grillo said in a statement. The insolvency at Voerde Aluminium was "an indication of the creeping process of de-industrialisation", Grillo said. The association has said more help is needed by industries that use lots of energy, to compensate for the country's high electricity costs and to prevent them from leaving the country. "Energy-intensive industry needs secure, clean and affordable electricity," Grillo added. After last year's Fukushima crisis in Japan, Germany decided to shut more than half a dozen older nuclear plants and phase out all nuclear power within a decade. (Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by David Hulmes) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions