UKLA President’s Report
Earlier on this year talk amongst many in the media was whether the coronavirus pandemic would mutate into an endemic on the back of the milder Omicron virus and, like the Spanish flu of the early 20th century, dissipate over time due to people’s natural or acquired vaccine immunity.
In the meantime we have reached the one-year anniversary of Brexit, the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Time will tell whether full border controls now being implemented on both sides of the channel lead to more disruption to supply chains or whether companies have learned to live with an increase in border checks.
The supply chain crisis is felt wider than just the European Union with America warning of truck driver shortages in 2022 and Transport Secretary Buttigieg’s announcement releasing $240m to U.S ports to unblock their supply chains.
In the UK I am a little more optimistic that demand for lubricants will remain relatively strong and stable over the course of 2022. Going back to elementary economics, demand for finished lubricants is relatively inelastic at least over the short-term.
As an input to the production process, lubricants act as a bellwether of the general level of economic activity in a country. On the transportation side the impact of electric vehicles is still small but growing, however the vast majority of the vehicle parc in the UK or abroad is still firmly invested in internal combustion engines. This might not always be the case though and we watch with interest recent government developments announcing investments in both hydrogen fuel and hydrogen fuel cell as clean alternatives to traditional fossil fuels.
Andrew Goddard, UKLA President
UEIL President’s Report
As we all know, Europe’s recovery requires the acceleration of the twin green and digital transitions, so that we build a more sustainable and resilient society and economy.
In the “Industry 5.0” report the European Commission highlights the power of industry to achieve societal goals beyond jobs and growth – to empower Europe to become a resilient provider of prosperity, by ensuring that production respects the boundaries of our planet and places the wellbeing of the industrial worker at the centre of the production process. According to the report, European industry must become the accelerator and enabler of change and innovation.
Digitalisation provides industry with unprecedented opportunities, with artificial intelligence or robotics enabling radical workplace innovation, optimising human-machine interactions and increasing industries’ resilience in a sustainable way.
Making our economy more sustainable is the other side of the same coin. The EU Green Deal goals can only be achieved by incorporating new technologies and rethinking the production processes with respect
4 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.167 FEBRUARY 2022
to their environmental impacts.
All these trends present a unique opportunity to the lubricant industry – but we will only be able to capture the benefits if we take the right strategic decisions.
For this reason, we have decided to choose as theme for the 2022 UEIL Congress “Driving innovation – the lubricant industry on the move”.
From October 19 to October 21 in the beautiful city of Athens, Greece, we will explore the topic of innovation along different stages of the value chain, with the aim of understanding the regulatory environment and the tools at hand – as well as being inspired by success stories and case studies presented by the brightest European lubricant manufactures.
Registrations will open in a few months but you can already reach out to the UEIL Congress team (
info@ueilcongress.org) for speaking and sponsorship opportunities. I am looking forward to meeting you all there to shape together the future of our industry.
Valentina Serra-Holm, UEIL President
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
