The Schmidt + Clemens Group believes German industry is at a pivotal moment. High energy costs, growing bureaucracy, and unclear political direction are putting significant pressure on companies across industrial value chains and undermining Germany’s international competitiveness. From Schmidt + Clemens’ perspective, Germany and Europe now urgently need a more reliable, pro-industry framework to safeguard investment, innovation, and jobs.
By Joanne McIntyre, Stainless Steel World
As an industrial materials and manufacturing partner with energy-intensive operations, Schmidt + Clemens feels the impact of today’s cost and regulatory environment particularly strongly. Persistently high electricity prices in Germany have become a key disadvantage for the country, increasingly influencing long-term investment and capacity decisions. At the same time, complex permitting processes, extensive reporting requirements, and lengthy procedures are delaying transformation projects that are essential for industrial resilience and modernisation.
“Our industry is facing extremely challenging conditions,” said Lars Niemczewski, spokesperson for the Schmidt + Clemens Group. “Energy costs in Germany and excessive bureaucracy are clearly weakening the country’s position as an industrial base, and limiting many companies’ ability to invest. We urgently need internationally competitive industrial power prices and meaningful relief from regulatory complexity. It is not enough to set targets: we need clear signals and fast implementation from Berlin and Brussels.”
Call for action
The Schmidt + Clemens Group calls on policymakers and institutions to put industrial competitiveness back at the centre of economic policy – through predictable energy pricing, investment-friendly tax and support mechanisms, faster permitting, practical regulation, and a coherent industrial strategy. Only then can Germany preserve its industrial strength while successfully navigating the transformation toward more resilient, sustainable, and secure infrastructure.
“We urgently need internationally competitive industrial power prices and meaningful relief from regulatory complexity”
Diversifying into wider industries
At the same time, Schmidt + Clemens is deliberately expanding its focus beyond the petrochemical sector toward strategic growth fields. This includes applications in energy technology – particularly in hydropower and nuclear power – as well as projects supporting the security and defence industries and solutions addressing the growing global need for clean water. These sectors are gaining strategic importance worldwide and require stable, investment-friendly conditions to ensure industrial value creation remains anchored in Germany and Europe.
“For the defence industry, Schmidt + Clemens was previously involved in subsea projects and land-based vehicles, and we will pursue new opportunities in this sector. One of the most important factors for this branch is having reliable partners within Europe, and this is where we excel. We are a very reliable and stable partner for the defence industry. We carry out static casting in Germany and the Czech Republic; centrifugal casting in Germany and Spain; and investment casting in Hungary. So all three different casting methods are done by our group within Europe.”
“For the energy business, we are turning our focus to civil nuclear and fusion reactor projects. Fusion power could well evolve into one of the most interesting energy sectors in future.”
Another focus for Schmidt + Clemens is the water industry, and particularly desalination. “As the world’s population increases, the demand for clean water is rising. Our duplex and super duplex materials are well-suited to desalination projects, offering superior chloride resistance. We anticipate good growth in this sector in the coming years.”
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