A man fuels a vehicle at a gas station in Berlin, capital of Germany, on May 11, 2022. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)
According to the report by the Munich-based ifo Institute for Economic Research, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has "further exacerbated the tense situation in the industry." Business expectations fell to minus 44.4 points in July, compared to plus 11.8 points in the same month last year.
BERLIN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Germany's chemical industry has been hit hard by soaring gas prices, according to a survey published on Tuesday.
According to the report by the Munich-based ifo Institute for Economic Research, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has "further exacerbated the tense situation in the industry." Business expectations fell to minus 44.4 points in July, compared to plus 11.8 points in the same month last year.
"High energy prices are causing production in Germany to fall, while import pressure is increasing," Wolfgang Grosse Entrup, managing director of the country's chemical industry association VCI, told Xinhua on Tuesday.
In Germany, 44 percent of the energy consumption of the chemical industry is covered by natural gas, while around 30 percent of all chemical products require its use.
Photo taken on March 18, 2022 shows vehicles traveling on a road in Frankfurt, Germany. (Photo by Armando Babani/Xinhua)
Gas prices in Europe are more than twice as high as before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in late February. European TTF gas futures were trading at around 190 euros (195 U.S. dollars) per megawatt hour on Tuesday.
Europe's biggest economy relies heavily on gas supplies from other countries. Last year, 95 percent of natural gas fed into Germany's grid was imported, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
In the past, Russia was one of the main suppliers of natural gas to Germany; in May, natural gas and crude oil worth 1.9 billion euros were still being imported from Russia to Germany.
However, at the end of July, Russia further reduced gas supplies to Germany via the important Nord Stream 1 pipeline, to the current 20 percent.
The logo of Russia's energy giant Gazprom is seen at a petrol station in Moscow, Russia, on April 28, 2022. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)■
