"It is important that investments in decarbonization are not put on hold," warned Gunther Kegel, President of the ZVEI association, on Monday. At the start of the Hannover Messe, he conceded with regard to alternatives to Russian oil and gas such as liquefied natural gas (LNG): "Yes, it will become more difficult to achieve the climate targets." But we have to "get out of this situation as quickly as possible".

For the time being, there is also no easing in the lack of microchips, which are used in countless products for industry and consumers. "We still have a major problem with the supply of chips," said Kegel. Many companies have full order books, with an average range of five to six months. However, in many cases, the processing of these orders is in turn dependent on the sometimes very long delivery times of the chip manufacturers.

Creating a semiconductor ecosystem for Europe

"It will get better, but probably not before next year," estimated Kegel. The chip shortage could "remain tense for a longer period of time". ZVEI Managing Director Wolfgang Weber pointed to the simultaneous strong growth in demand for semiconductor components, which is reaching up to 8% per year worldwide. The association proposes rapidly expanding a "semiconductor ecosystem" for Europe with more in-house production in order to reduce dependence on Asian chip suppliers in particular. There are also EU initiatives to this end, and heavyweights such as Intel have recently announced major investments.

Manufacturers of electrical, electronic and digital technology in Germany assume that they will be able to maintain the target of 4% production growth in 2022. "It could be difficult if the war is not over next year and there is a spiral of further sanctions and counter-sanctions," Kegel told the German Press Agency. The multi-week lockdown in Chinese trading centers such as Shanghai will also "send a shock through the supply chains, the consequences of which we won't see for another six to eight weeks. Something is still to come. "