European Foundry Association

Positive expectations for European foundry industry while facing up to pressure - The European Foundry Sentiment Indicator (FISI) increased again after a slight dampener in the previous month, says the European Foundry Association, CAEF.

Source: CAEF

The plus of 1.0 points brings the index to a value of 109.7. While the current business situation is generally rated poorer than in the previous month, the more positive expectations for the coming six months pull the index up on balance.

Vehicle construction OEMs are increasingly noticing problems in the procurement of electronic components and are announcing short-time work. Supplying foundries are expected to show a degree of flexibility that no serious production planning can match. Meanwhile, the considerable cost increases in the procurement of input materials and on the energy market are also putting pressure on foundries running at full capacity. Nevertheless, the excellent order situation in the machine engineering sector gives foundries a positive outlook for the future.

At the same time, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) stopped its record reaching development. The slight decrease of 0.13 points brings the index to 1.75 points. The current business situation is assessed as positive overall due to the excellent order-book levels from EU and non-EU countries.

The FISI – European Foundry Industry Sentiment Indicator – is the earliest available composite indicator providing information on the European foundry industry performance. It is published by CAEF, the European Foundry Association, every month and is based on survey responses of the European foundry industry. CAEF members are asked to give their assessment of the current business situation in the foundry sector and their expectations for the next six months.

The BCI – Business Climate Indicator – is an indicator published by the European Commission. The BCI evaluates development conditions of the manufacturing sector in the euro area every month and uses five balances of opinion from industry survey: production trends, order books, export order books, stocks, and production expectations.

Source: www.caef.eu