CM December 2023

International Trade
Monthly round-up of the latest stories
in global trade by Andrea Kirkby.
UK Export Finance
helps cleantech firm
A
small cleantech firm in Surrey has
secured a £4m order to supply its
technology to a 2.0-gigawatt solar
facility in India with support from
UK Export Finance (UKEF).
Gas Recovery and Recycle Limited
(GR2L) is a micro-SME business which
has developed, patented and exported
technology to reduce the energy
consumption, carbon footprint and cost of
manufacturing solar panels.
Makers of solar panels use argon gas to
purify silicon crystals which are then used
in solar cells. This process requires vast
amounts of argon, with some producers
needing to ship in multiple tankers of the
gas each day.
GR2L’s ArgonØ machinery which allows
solar cell production – as well as other
advanced manufacturing activities like
microelectronics production, 3D metals
printing and aerospace heat treatments
– to recycle up to 95 percent of the argon
used.
GR2L wanted to supply its argon
recycling technology to Mundra Solar
Technology to support a solar facility being
built in Mundra, India. But the firm needed
to obtain payments in advance of making
any deliveries to Mundra. To secure these
payments, it had to issue a guarantee
to assure the buyer that it could deliver,
which would have meant making a cash
deposit through its bank. This however
would have restricted the funds which the
company needed for delivering the very
same orders which it wanted to secure.
A £475,000 guarantee issued under
UKEF’s Bond Support Scheme meant that
GR2L could instead reclaim this portion
of the cash deposit; this allowed GR2L to
access crucial funds needed to deliver the
Mundra contract and secure this major
exporting opportunity.
GERMANY INVITES
UK TO TRADE
AS detailed on various sites, including
the BBC, Germany’s finance minister
invited the UK to move on post-Brexit
trade relations with the European
Union.
During an interview with the BBC,
Christian Lindner said: “If you want to
intensify your trade relationship with
the EU – call us!” He added that the
UK had a standing invitation on future
talks aimed at reducing trade barriers,
or obstacles in daily business life that
had arisen, adding that ‘in the daily life
of German corporates, there are new
obstacles since Brexit... I don’t think
the United Kingdom is benefitting
from Brexit.’
In response, a Government
spokesperson said the UK was open
to new opportunities across the globe.
Cynics might suggest that Germany
needs the UK more than it’s letting
on. According to the German Chamber
of Industry and Commerce, German
goods exports to the UK were 14.1
percent less in 2022 than in 2016 –
the year of the Brexit referendum –
and the UK slipped from third most
important export partner to eighth.
Further, car exports from the EU to
the UK have nearly halved in number
since Brexit, falling by €10bn in value.
So – could Germany be leading the
vanguard for a warming of UK and EU
relations?
Businesses unaware of changes to future regulations
RESEARCH by the BCC, Business in
the dark over regulatory avalanche for
EU trade, has reported that the vast
majority of businesses are unaware
and unprepared for many forthcoming
changes in EU/UK regulations.
When asked about their knowledge
of the changes, a survey of more than
700 firms found that 84 percent of
manufacturers did not know about
new reporting requirements on
exports of goods to the EU containing
high-carbon steel, and selected other
products, starting in October; 87 percent
of exporters were either unaware or
unprepared for new EU VAT requirements
due in January 2025; and 43 percent
of manufacturers were still unaware
of the UK’s, now voluntary, alternative
product safety marking system to
the EU’s CE mark.
The lack of knowledge and preparation
for the changes, mean that some trading
with the EU could face a whole range
of new delays and unexpected costs. In
some cases, exporters could also find
their goods unable to be transited to EU
customers.
While not all of the incoming changes
to regulations will impact every firm, the
range of new rules, and the complexity of
their requirements, means many will face
new obstacles.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / December 2023 / PAGE 38