ArcelorMittal temporarily ceases production at the steel plant in Hunedoara, as a result of high prices for electricity and natural gas, informs a press release issued by the company sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday.
Plant production was suspended on December 1 2019. Structures, round billets and angles were produced here. The factory has 640 employees and 200 contractors.
"The prices for electricity and natural gas have increased significantly for industrial users in Romania in recent years, the Romanian prices being significantly higher than in other European countries with important operators in the steel production, such as France and Germany. Given that European steel producers are struggling to compete due to high levels of imported steel and weak domestic demand, the Hunedoara plant - which operates with an electric arc furnace, with energy thus representing a major cost - is no longer able to compete," the press release specifies.
The company hopes to find a solution that will address the problem of high prices of electricity and natural gas and allow the Hunedoara plant to have a sustainable future.
Employees were asked to take the remaining annual leave, the company granting workers "economic unemployment" for the remaining days.
ArcelorMittal purchased the plant in Hunedoara in 2003 and has since invested 550 million lei (115 million euros) to improve it technically and environmentally.