Assopannelli: welcome the suspension of duties, but CBAM on urea must also be halted

A cautious opening from Paolo Fantoni, president of Assopannelli of FederlegnoArredo, regarding the European Commission’s proposal to suspend for one year the duties on imports of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
“We are carefully considering the European Commission’s proposal and, despite its evident limitations in addressing the sector’s critical issues, we appreciate the efforts to improve the framework,” Fantoni stated.
According to the analyses cited by the president of Assopannelli, the share of urea imports from countries actually subject to duties is marginal compared to the total. Moreover, Italy’s main supplier countries currently apply no duties, a circumstance that reduces the concrete impact of the measure.

Hence the call to go further. “The hope – Fantoni continued – is that the application of the Cbam on urea can also be suspended: suspending duties alone would have a limited effect and would not offset the additional costs resulting from the entry into force of the Cbam mechanism.”
For the panel sector, the Commission’s proposal nevertheless represents “… a first step…” toward restoring competitiveness along the entire wood-furniture supply chain. However, according to Assopannelli, structural measures are needed to ensure the availability of urea, a strategic raw material for the sector, in a context where European production already faces higher energy costs – particularly for gas and electricity – as well as structural rigidities in production capacity.
The objective, the association concluded, is to move “… as swiftly as possible in the right direction” to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of the panel industry and the entire supply chain.