On 25^th January, EBI, together with its partner boot Düsseldorf, held the 7^th edition of the International Breakfast Meeting (IBM) online due to the cancellation of boot Düsseldorf 2022. Despite being held online for the second consecutive year, it showed itself, once again, as an outstanding platform offering trade visitors, industry, and journalists the opportunity to exchange information on the latest market trends, regulations, and innovation, as well as to develop new contacts and networks.

The IBM tackled a crucial topic for the boating industry under the theme of “International trade opportunities and supply chain challenges”. The event was moderated by EBI’s Secretary General Philip Easthill.

Petros Michelidakis (Director, boot Düsseldorf), and Robert Marx (President, boot Düsseldorf & BVWW) introduced the webinar and welcomed speakers and participants. They both stressed the importance of the themes of international trade and supply chains as important challenges to tackle for the future of the boating industry. Both extended their welcome for the 2023 edition of boot Düsseldorf.

The keynote speaker was Cristina Rueda-Catry (Cabinet Expert, European Commission Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis). She pointed out the relevance of extra-EU trade which accounts for 38 million jobs, meaning that nearly one in five jobs is linked to EU’s trade. Trade will be fundamental to recover from the pandemic. The new EU Strategy on Trade was published in February 2021 and is based on three main objectives: openness, sustainability and assertiveness.

Openness refers to the capability of EU to continue building reliable trade relationships with partners. The US still represent the most important partner for trade and European recreational boating industry presence in the American market is an example of this consolidated relationship. Long-term disputes have been resolved with favourable terms for the EU, such as the Steel and Aluminium dispute. Moreover, the Trade and Technology Council is laying the foundations for a promising collaboration on the field of digitalisation transition and technology with the US. Sustainability will also be at the heart of EU trade policy in a number of initiatives. The assertiveness element means that the EU will continue being open but defend its interests when trade partners do not abide by the rules. This principle has led to the appointment of the EU’s first Chief Trade Enforcement Officer. The EU is putting forward several tools to help companies to enforce rights and grasp opportunities such as the Single-Entry Points and Access to Markets tool, complemented by tools for the access to procurement and a tool on rules of origins, as well as the European Chips Act to increase European production of semiconductors.

Marc Diening (CEO, Bavaria Yachts) focused on the current supply chain situation for the boating industry. The industry is in an unprecedented situation with great opportunities coming from a strong demand for boats driven by the pandemic while there are threats coming from supply chain bottlenecks and raw materials price increases. Companies are facing difficulties to match the higher demand and lead times of several months are becoming the new norm. The issues are exacerbated by the small size of many suppliers that are lacking the transparency and communication level which leads to a great uncertainty for all industry operators. The tendency of many companies to stockpile and purchase more than needed creates a vicious cycle. Bavaria has reacted by storing more material than usual to keep production stable. Two years since the start of the first supply chain issues, Bavaria has adopted adequate restructuring and rescheduling measures and increased transparency across the supply chain to avoid inefficiencies leading to a more stabilised situation.

He maintained that it is important for all operators across the supply chains to think long-term, being aware of the historical cycles in the industry, thus keeping trust among partners as the final goal. In the next 6 to 12 months no changes to the current issues are expected. Price increases are an additional challenge that affect margins and prices of boats.  At the political level it is essential to make sure that international movements of goods are protected. Dependency on a single supplier, country or region is not a productive approach in this unique environment. The direction for the industry and policy-makers is to build industrial competencies and technologies in more countries and preferably in Europe. He concluded by encouraging the creation of a transparent framework to handle the supply chain and raw material challenges, while increasing the attractiveness of the sector to customers and improve the competitiveness of the industry long term.

Alessandro Gianneschi (CEO of Gianneschi Pumps and Blowers & Vice President of Confindustria Nautica) presented the current situation of the global supply chain for raw materials and components. He reported the results from a survey conducted by Confindustria Nautica on a sample of Italian companies in the equipment and engine manufacturing sectors. The main countries for the supply of raw materials and components were shown to be Italy, China, USA, Germany, and Japan. The delivery times of raw materials from major suppliers in 2021 were significantly longer than previously. While previously 45% of the companies already required the scheduling of orders for raw materials and components to their main suppliers, in 2021 a further 28% of companies were required to do so by their main suppliers, 20% of by only a few suppliers, and only 7% of the companies in the sample did not receive requests to schedule orders by their suppliers. It also appears that for 93% of the sample, many of the major suppliers have increased their prices compared to the previous year. On top of the raw materials and delivery time issues, the survey identified the microprocessor shortage as an additional challenge. Mr Gianneschi also highlighted the importance of a better transparency in the value chains and a greater collaboration between yards and suppliers as critical solutions for the industry to successfully address these challenges in the coming years.

The last speaker was Michael Heinemann (CEO, Phoenix Contact), presented his company’s long experience in providing sustainable charging solutions to the automotive sector. He also showcased the company’s recent advancements in the development of charging infrastructure with potential for boating. He explained the logistic difficulties that Phoenix contact is currently facing to supply key components for their products, such as microelectronics. The session was followed by a lively Q&A were participants asked about transparency within the EU single market, the European response to the shortage of microprocessors and the impact of Brexit on boatbuilders and suppliers.

The 7^th edition of the International Breakfast was concluded by EBI President Jean-Pierre Goudant, who thanked speakers and participants and announced the new strategy for the period 2022-2025 about to be launched by EBI.

The full recording of the International Breakfast Meeting can be found on EBI’s YouTube page.