On Thursday, the shares of major cement manufacturers will once again be weighed down by the debate over European emissions trading.
The topic was an article according to which Italy should push for a suspension of the trading system (ETS) in order to relieve the burden on energy-intensive companies. However, this development is welcomed by investors in the chemical industry.
The shares of Heidelberg Materials came under pressure on Thursday via XETRA with a recent loss of 5.13 percent to 189.65 euros and those of Holcim lost 4.87 percent to 71.10 CHF in Switzerland. The Heidelberg share price, which was still record-high at the end of January, was once again approaching the low since June, to which it had fallen in mid-February due to possible easing of climate protection regulations. Once again, the prospect of falling cement prices and the fact that Heidelberg Materials was previously considered a pioneer with investments in low-emission production, which could therefore be less worthwhile for the time being, are a burden.
Conversely, BASF shares benefited, being among the best values in the moderately rising leading index DAX on Thursday with an increase of 1.7 percent to 49.76 euros. In the MDAX of medium-sized stocks, LANXESS and WACKER CHEMIE were also among the particularly popular stocks. The news is relieving here because high emissions taxes in Europe can have an impact on competitiveness.
The discussion about emissions trading continued on Thursday after the Italian industry minister called for EU emissions trading to be suspended until it is reformed. The Trading system “In its current form, it represents an additional burden for European companies, increasing their costs and limiting their competitiveness,” said Adolfo Urso in Brussels. In addition, Italy is in favor of postponing the abolition of free emissions certificates as long as no comprehensive changes have been decided.
At the beginning of February, speculation about a softening of climate policy caused cement values to fall and chemical values to rise. In mid-February, the discussion about this was again the focus of attention at a summit meeting of energy-intensive industries in Antwerp.
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FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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