Insee Focus · March 2025 · n° 351

Output in energy-intensive industries remained in sharp decline compared to the level of 2021

Between mid-2021 and early 2023, energy prices more than doubled. The impact on output costs has been considerable for industrial companies in the most energy-intensive industries like in the manufacture of basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys, the manufacture of pulp, paper and paperboard, the manufacture of glass and glass products and the manufacture of basic chemicals.

Thus, since mid-2021, production in these industries has fallen sharply, and for most of them reached a low point between late 2022 and early 2023 (‑27% in the manufacture of basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys, ‑21% in the manufacture of pulp, paper and paperboard, and ‑18% in the manufacture of basic chemicals).

Since then, energy prices have fallen sharply, and output has picked up again in most of these energy-intensive industries. Nevertheless, by the end of 2024, production remained far below its mid-2021 level: ‑24% in the manufacture of basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys, ‑20% in the manufacture of glass and glass products, ‑15% in the manufacture of basic chemicals and ‑12% in the manufacture of pulp, paper and paperboard.