Missing computer chips Short-time work at VW and Daimler

Status: 16.06.2021 10:23 a.m.

Time and again, the production lines in car plants stand still – the manufacturers refer to the industry-wide shortage of chips. Now it hits Volkswagen and Daimler again. When will the situation improve? From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de There will be stoppages in the coming week at the VW main plant. In the Tiguan, Touran and Tarraco production as well as in the Golf production in the late and night shifts, the Wolfsburg switch to short-time work. In the Daimler plants in Bremen and Rastatt, short-time work is already the order of the day. The reason is once again the industry-wide shortage of chips.

06/08/2021

Interruptions cost billions

It is nowhere near the first time that the shortage of semiconductors has slowed automakers’ production. It was not until the end of May that the VW luxury subsidiary Audi at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm locations suffered production interruptions. BMW had been hit a few weeks earlier. The Ford plant in Cologne is also affected. The German auto industry is not alone with its problems: The US auto giant Ford calculates charges of around 2.5 billion dollars this year due to the lack of chips. The problems in the automotive industry have consequences for the entire economy. Just today, the researchers at the Munich Ifo Institute lowered their forecast for the growth of the German gross domestic product this year from 3.7 to 3.3 percent. To justify this, they also referred to bottlenecks in the delivery of intermediate products such as semiconductors.

Improvement in the third quarter?

It could take a few more weeks for a change for the better. According to experts, the automotive industry is heading for the lowest point. “We are facing the toughest six weeks,” said Murat Aksel, VW Board Member for Purchasing, recently in an interview with the “Handelsblatt”. The situation should improve again in the third quarter. Competitor Daimler also expects an improvement in the second half of the year. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) also estimates that the situation should ease from July.

Around four million cars less

Because of the lack of chips, automakers worldwide produced 1.4 million fewer cars in the first quarter and 1.6 million in the second quarter, the BCG experts calculate. For the entire year 2021, the failures are likely to amount to four to six million vehicles.

05/04/2021

The consulting firm Alix Partners in Munich estimates 3.9 million cars. This corresponds to a value of non-produced cars of around 91 billion euros.

Lessons from the shortage of chips

The car manufacturers have long since learned their lessons from the shortage of chips: They are carefully reviewing their supply chains and are not only expanding their warehousing for chips. After all, the supply chains have thinned out after a pandemic for more than a year, even for important intermediate products, for example in the chemical industry.

06/07/2021

Security of supply is suddenly a priority again after years of just-in-time delivery. Chip manufacturers are also taking strong countermeasures and are pushing ahead with expanding their capacities at full speed. In Germany, the new high-tech chip factory from Bosch ensure regional supplies.

Misjudgments as the cause

But how did it come to that? Where does this lack of chips come from, which is currently keeping the auto industry and its employees in suspense? With the outbreak of the corona pandemic, demand for cars collapsed and chip manufacturers cut their production plans.

05/31/2021

When the demand for new vehicles suddenly increased surprisingly in the summer of 2020, chip manufacturers such as Infineon or NXP were overwhelmed by the demand. The current chip shortage is therefore based on a whole series of misjudgments – on the part of car manufacturers and suppliers, but also on the part of chip manufacturers. The lack of chips also shows that the auto industry did not come through the Corona crisis as badly as feared.

Raw material for batteries Is nickel still in short supply?

Status: 15.06.2021 3:55 p.m.

First a lack of chips, then a lack of wood, soon a lack of nickel? E-mobility also devours resources. Due to the increasing demand for batteries, the demand for nickel is likely to increase strongly. The sufficient supply of the metal nickel could become critical in the next few years. The German Raw Materials Agency (DERA) warns of this in a current analysis. The background to this is the increasing demand generated by the turnaround towards electromobility. “We assume that, depending on the scenario, global nickel demand will increase from around 2.4 million tons today to around 3.4 million tons in 2025,” explains Dr. Michael Szurlies, nickel expert at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). “Overall, the nickel market is facing a turning point in terms of demand in the coming years, which will lead to a significant shift in market shares within the areas of application.” As a special department of the BGR, DERA advises the federal government, business and NGOs on raw material issues, for example on security of supply and the ecological consequences.

02/18/2021

Nickel is used for batteries

So far, nickel has mainly been used in steel production: around 85 percent is currently used in the manufacture of stainless steel and alloys, as DERA writes. The use in batteries currently accounts for around five percent. That will change in the near future. Because nickel is now a “key raw material” for the transport and energy transition, according to the study. Due to the strong demand generated by the global expansion of electromobility, the experts expect that by 2025, depending on the scenario, the share could be up to 21 percent. This would make batteries the second largest area of ​​application.

07.03.2021

Most of the nickel comes from Indonesia

Indonesia is the world’s largest supplier of nickel. The experts write that the vast majority of the new global production and refining capacities for the metal are expected there by 2025. This leads to a significant increase in the market concentration for nickel – and also has the consequence that the power of the main suppliers increases. Whether prices can also be expected to rise in the future due to rising demand depends on whether supply also increases. It is not excluded. In order to reduce the dependency on international suppliers, consideration is being given to extracting important raw materials – including nickel – in Europe. Experts emphasize that a European supply chain could make economic sense. In January, Peter Buchholz, head of DERA, said it would be good if Europe also built up its own capacities. The projects just have to be cost-competitive.

background 10/27/2010

Recycling is becoming more important

The automotive industry in particular, but also machine builders with a focus on solar or wind power, steel manufacturers or the IT and medical technology industries are dependent on a continuous supply of basic materials such as nickel. This also applies to so-called rare earths – elements such as cobalt or lithium, which is usually the central raw material for batteries in pure electric drives. The authors of the study also have the issue of sustainability in mind: “In view of the goal of reducing emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide through electromobility, in future, apart from questions of availability, the most environmentally friendly and sustainable extraction and processing of nickel will be more important.” One has to ask how more nickel and nickel compounds can be recovered at the end of the life cycle of the products and how less environmentally harmful and at the same time more socially fair promotion can be achieved. On the one hand, there are technological developments towards greater efficiency and fewer emissions. On the other hand, the increasing mining in tropical regions is a problem due to the large amount of land required.

Production drops slightly A lack of material slows down industry

As of: June 8th, 2021 12:32 p.m.

It sounds paradoxical: the order books are full, but production in German industry fell in April. The main reason is the supply bottlenecks for intermediate products such as semiconductors or lumber. In April, industrial production in the German economy fell by one percent compared to March, according to the Federal Ministry of Economics. That is significantly worse than experts had forecast, after a plus of 2.2 percent had been recorded in the previous month. The reason for the decline is the lack of intermediate products such as, which has been widely discussed for a long time Semiconductors or Lumber , which the companies from industry, construction and troubles the energy suppliers.

“A slight disappointment”

The sectors are affected differently by this development. Industrial emissions fell by 0.7 percent. The construction industry recorded a significant minus of 4.3 percent. Energy generation, on the other hand, increased by six percent compared to the previous month. Within the industry, the weighty area of ​​motor vehicles / motor vehicle parts recorded a significant decline of 5.6 percent in a two-month comparison, according to the press release. The comparably weighty mechanical engineering sector, on the other hand, was only slightly below the previous level at minus 0.3 percent. “In view of the high order backlog, that is a slight disappointment,” commented LBBW economist Jens-Oliver Niklasch on the current economic data. This is also how his colleague Alexander Krüger from Bankhaus Lampe sees it: “It is paradoxical: Despite the magnificent order situation, production is not getting underway. Once again it is clear that the industry is still affected by indirect pandemic pressure. Longer delivery times and material bottlenecks are actually signs a boom that is currently not at all. ”

“Material shortage has a full impact”

Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank, is of the opinion that the shortage of materials is now having an impact: “Such a constellation is unparalleled. The industry’s order books are well filled and production is giving way.” Nils Jannsen, Head of Business for Germany at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), also sees the delivery bottlenecks as a major problem, as the companies have not been able to fully process the high incoming orders for several months. “In April, the proportion of companies in the manufacturing sector that reported production disruptions due to a lack of preliminary work was at a record level of more than 40 percent,” said the expert. In addition to the shortage of manufactured intermediate goods, Jannsen also observes transport bottlenecks in shipping. For Andreas Scheuerle, an expert at Dekabank, another aspect is also effective: “Delivery bottlenecks certainly hampered production in April. But they alone do not explain the lower industrial production. Another part of the picture is that the infection situation in Germany is continuing tightened the easing of March again. ”

Production expectations are falling

How could it go on in the future? Apparently, there is a certain skepticism among companies: The production expectations of the industry deteriorated in May after a 30-year high had only been reached in the previous month. The corresponding ifo indicator fell by five to 27 points, as the Ifo Institute announced in its monthly survey of companies. “The picture of production expectations in the individual sectors is very different,” said Ifo expert Klaus Wohlrabe. “The auto industry and its suppliers are significantly lowering their expectations, but continue to expect production increases.” The clothing manufacturers, on the other hand, report for the first time after nine months that they want to expand their production. “Additional boost” The economist Scheuerle emphasizes that the order cushion increased again in April, because orders would develop more strongly than production: “This record high order backlog will secure the recovery in the second half of the year as soon as the bottlenecks ease again.” According to ifw specialist Jannsen, it is currently difficult to predict how long the production disruptions will continue. They would presumably only fade gradually and initially put a brake on the recovery in industry. “As soon as these impairments have been overcome, companies will work off the backlog of orders quickly and industrial production will receive an additional boost.”

Daimler has to send thousands of employees on short-time work at two locations. The reason is not the sluggish sales, but the persistent shortage of electronic components. Most of the employees at the Mercedes plants in Rastatt and Bremen are affected. Daimler announced on Wednesday that car production would be reduced in the two factories and that short-time work would initially be applied for from April 23 to the beginning of May. More than 12,000 people are employed in the Bremen plant and around 6,500 in Rastatt. According to the company, employees in “strategic projects” and so-called basic functions are excluded from short-time working at both locations. This includes Daimler in the areas of maintenance and supply as well as qualification topics. First, local media reported on the short-time work plans at the respective locations.

Break at the wrong time

The production interruption apparently hit the Bremen plant at an inopportune time. The order situation is good, the “Weser Kurier” quotes a spokesman for IG Metall. In addition, the new C-Class produced in the plant there, which was presented in February and will soon be delivered to customers, is also affected. Daimler employees in Bremen had already been forced to take a break in January. At that time, too, the cause was the lack of semiconductor components. Upon request, Daimler did not comment in detail on the question of whether short-time work was now also planned for other plants. The only thing that was said was that they were in exchange with the chip suppliers and “if necessary” were to adapt the driving styles in individual plants. The situation is volatile, you drive on sight.

VW, Ford and Peugeot also affected

The global delivery bottlenecks for electronic chips are also forcing other car manufacturers to interrupt production. At Ford, for example, the production lines are at a standstill in some plants; at Volkswagen in Emden, production is interrupted for two weeks. Thousands of employees were put on short-time work. In France, the car manufacturer Peugeot, which belongs to the Stellantis group, is taking an unusual approach: Due to the lack of chips, analog speedometers will be used again in the 308 model instead of the digital speedometers originally intended. Digital dashboards are reserved for vehicles that are more in demand, such as the 3008 SUV. The customers should therefore receive a price discount, reported the French news broadcaster LCI. The current model of the Peugeot 308 expires in autumn. The next generation of compact cars should then have a digital speedometer again – provided that enough chips are available by then. So far, the car manufacturers have not dared to make a prognosis about the business effects of the chip shortage because the situation on the chip market is too confusing. According to analysts, however, the bottleneck has so far done more than harmed the corporations: As a result, the supply of new cars has decreased, while demand is high in China and the USA. This enabled higher prices to be enforced.