Faced with the Russian threat to cut off the gas tap and the tensions in the electricity grid, Elisabeth Borne warned the companies on Monday. The head of government called for the development of sobriety plans to lower their energy consumption. Otherwise, outages could become unavoidable during consumption peaks, warns the government, which is also considering brownouts to ease the grid.
A situation that worries the food industry. In a press release published this Tuesday, the National Association of Food Industries (Ania) raised the threat of “empty shelves” in stores if the available energy was not enough to ensure production, and urged the government to take into account the “strategic and priority” measures of the agri-food sector “in the execution of energy measures”.
price spike
In addition to energy availability, the organization is also concerned about skyrocketing gas and electricity prices, especially for VSEs and SMEs. “The new 2023 rates for energy contracts are through the roof, with an energy price twenty times higher for gas and ten times for electricity than before the energy crisis,” says Ania, who evokes “postponements of short and medium term investments”, including “sustainability issues”.
Especially since these energy problems are added to the sharp increase in production costs, Ania points out, citing packaging, logistics and agricultural raw materials.
Source: BFM TV
