Germany trade relationship is metals firm's 'saving grace'
Walsall-based metal merchants AJS Metals Limited have lauded their trade relationship with Germany as the 'saving grace ' amid export difficulties throughout Covid-19 and Brexit, writes Claudia Congrave.
AJS Metals Limited have been trading for more than 25 years in the aluminium industry, building up an extensive customer base that includes local scrap merchants, UK and International metal traders and small independent companies.
The firm have also starred in Season 4 of the Quest TV series 'Scrap Kings '.
Away from the TV cameras, the firm say that their relationship with Germany has been very important during the past two decades.
Director Carl Stanton (pictured) explained that this relationship had not only contributed largely to the firm 's growth, but also given them a rare advantage during the pandemic.
At the beginning of last year, AJS were producing 600 tonnes of alloy a month and were exporting 18 per cent across the UK and 82 per cent to Germany.
By August 2020, exports to Germany had increased to 100 per cent and allowed the company to continue trading while the UK market ground to a halt.
It also resulted in AJS transforming their new office space into storage that would be paid for and used to store alloy for German customers whilst it was held up by changing export procedures.
Mr Stanton praised the Chamber for providing help and resources to their company throughout this period.
He said: “We had 13 loads of alloy to get out in January 2021, and we had a lot of issues at the border. Something wasn 't tying up with the UK and EU legislation amid all of the changes.
“Of those 13 loads we only managed to get two out of the country, with one coming back to us.
“With all of the new paperwork and legislation, I knew I had to get my team updated on it and we found out that the Chamber could help us with completing the documentation for a reasonable price.
“Leah Quarmby (international trade training manager) has been a huge help in that area and, as a result, every load we needed to transport was able to cross into Germany by the end of January.
“Over the last few years I 've also been attending the Chamber 's Brexit meetings, where I was lucky enough to meet Jim Bourne who has worked closely with me regarding our concerns about leaving the EU. ”
Despite the complications they have faced, Mr Stanton said he was optimistic about the future of AJS 's relationship with Germany and encouraged more businesses to explore the available trade prospects outside of the UK.
He said: “It 's quite obvious to me that German manufacturers are keen to maintain their relationship with the UK and we will continue taking advantage of that and want to build on our connections there in the future.
“My advice to companies entering this new market is that the quality has to be right. German companies value the quality of your product and also the efficiency with documentation. On that front, the help is there-so use it. ”