The Plansee Group reports that it achieved consolidated sales of €1.18 billion in 2015.
‘Despite a dramatic fall of up to 42% in raw materials prices, we were generally able to maintain sales volumes and sales at a stable level’, said Plansee group chairman of the executive board, Dr Michael Schwarzkopf said. The lower sales prices resulting from the raw materials situation were largely balanced out by favorable exchange rates.
Despite reduced rates of growth worldwide, the Plansee Group extended its business activities in many different markets and boosted its market share. Across the group, €60 million, the equivalent of 5% of sales, were invested in innovation projects.
Demand in Europe was relatively strong and was driven by exporters such as the mechanical engineering and automotive industries. The aviation industry remained robust throughout the year. Even though China was unable to achieve its growth rates of the preceding years, the Plansee Group continued to increase its sales in the country and in Southeast Asia.
Positive development
The market environment in North America proved to be more difficult, primarily due to the continued weakness of the oil, gas and mining industries. Sufficient production capacity to meet global molybdenum demand enabled a very positive development of molybdenum ore processor Molymet in Chile.
At the global level, more than half of the Plansee Group's sales come from the mechanical engineering, automotive and consumer electronics sectors. Broken down into the group's three main sales regions, 53% of sales were achieved in Europe, 23% in America and 24% in Asia.
‘The Plansee Group does not expect the economic environment to improve over the current fiscal,’ the company said in a press release. ‘The group's focus is therefore increasingly being placed on improving competitiveness and ensuring the long-term optimization of its business processes.’
This story is reprinted from material from the Plansee Group, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
