Some companies are particularly threatened by high energy prices. A blatant example is the textile manufacturer Trigema. Its boss Wolfgang Grupp reports that his costs have increased tenfold.
Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp has already overcome a number of challenges in his entrepreneurial career. However, even the unconventional textile producer is largely powerless in the face of the current energy crisis. “We are confronted with exorbitant prices and have no alternative in the short term,” Grupp told Focus Online.
In the interview, he calculates how much the current gas prices affect his production. In 2020 he still had gas costs of 1.2 million euros a year, says Grupp. According to his projections, he will land at 12 million euros this year. “That’s ten times what it was two years ago.”
He can still “keep it up a bit,” says the entrepreneur, who is one of the few textile manufacturers to still produce in Germany. But the search for alternatives to gas is proving difficult. He ordered an oil boiler, but it won’t be delivered for a year, says Grupp. He does not expect hydrogen as a gas substitute for more than three years. In addition, he could hardly pass on the increased production costs to customers because they were no longer willing to pay.
Difficult crisis management
In the interview, Grupp also complains about what he sees as insufficient crisis management in politics. However, he is partly responsible for the problems himself. In the Handelsblatt he recently announced that he had not concluded any long-term supply contracts for energy, but instead was mainly based on current prices.
The federal government has been feverishly looking for solutions to the energy crisis for months. Economics Minister Robert Habeck is currently trying to get new subsidies for the gas and electricity costs of energy-intensive medium-sized companies on the way. This Tuesday, Habeck is speaking to around 40 small and medium-sized business associations about extending the current rescue package to other sectors. However, the implementation depends on how quickly agreement can be reached within the federal government, stressed Habeck.
Sources: / / DPA
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
