Heat treatment market in CZ and SK in 2021
So I managed to put together the year 2021. Why only 2021? It has to do with the reporting of company data in the Business Register. Our state’s benevolence towards this kind of information has moved mandatory accounting data for some companies into the “dark space”. And because the mandatory deadlines have been extended, some companies relevant to these statistics have not published their 2021 figures until before Christmas this year.
Despite this, my statistics may still show a significant error for some entities, because these entities fall under the so-called micro or small entities, in which case they are only required to deposit a balance sheet with the Business Register. The obligation to publish a profit and loss account is now up to 50 million. CZK turnover.
On the one hand, simple reasoning, not everyone needs to see my cards. But on the other hand, the problem is on the side of the customer, who has to pay for an initial rating for a new supplier before the start of the cooperation, in the case of multinational companies also periodically, according to the annual turnover. The price for such a rating, e.g. at Dan&Bradstreet, is really high, so it is better to make this calculation yourself, just from accounting data. After all, even the rating agencies do not use a different methodology, they are based only on published data in the Business Register, the Insolvency Register, etc. And if that data is not even available in the Business Register? Personally, I think that is a source of distrust. So as a potential new customer of a heat treatment plant, I would rather go elsewhere where they are more open.
Another special case for statistical errors are the “hybrid” heat treaters like Swiss Steel or Voestalpine, where the results of the heat treatment division are obscured by the steel sales figures. Therefore, for my part, this is something of an “expert evaluation” based on the structure of the production facilities.
There is a portal in Slovakia, https://finstat.sk/, which seems to me to be absolutely perfect for this purpose. Unfortunately, we do not have that, so we have to make do with what is available.
And what does our world of commercial heat treatment look like in 2021? Let’s face it, okay. The total market is around CZK4.6bn, which is almost CZK1bn more than my estimate last year. But the difference is not, with a few exceptions, due to new capacity, but also to the addition of new entities that were previously unknown to me. Strangely enough, even after 30 years on the market, this happens to me.
The volume of data I have processed shows that 54% of the market falls into the area of in-house heat treatment operation, and 46% into commercial activities (Fig.1). However, I also include commercial coating plants for CVD/PVD technologies, and laser hardening in the statistics, as these are similar custom activities.
And how did the individual 28 commercial heat treaters do? The estimated total turnover for 2021 is CZK 1.228 billion, of which 38% is attributed to Bodycote HT and Bodycote SK. And who holds the imaginary next position? Only Galvamet is approaching the turnover of CZK 100 million so far which is only 8% of market share.
January 26, 2023
Jiří Stanislav
