The Liberty Galați steelworks in Romania has postponed the restart of Blast Furnace No. 5, which was scheduled for April 22. The new planned date for the restart is May 9, but it may not be realized due to technical issues and insufficient raw material supplies. This was reported by Vieția libere.
This is reported by Business • Media
Reasons for the Delay and the State of the Enterprise
According to the publication, several announcements have been made regarding the restart, with deadlines being postponed each time. The latest planned deadline of May 9 is unlikely to be met due to technical difficulties and limited raw material supplies. It is important to note that the only operational blast furnace at the plant has been shut down for ten months.
At the end of last week, a representative of Liberty Galați reported that the salaries of steelworkers had been paid. The impact of a severe recession in the European steel market has negatively affected the operations of the plant and all producers in the region. However, the company, with the support of Romanian authorities, continues to take measures for a swift recovery of operations.
Minimum Steps and Government Support
In March of this year, it was announced that state support had been secured for the resumption of operations at the plant. Romania’s Minister of Economy, Bogdan Ionescu, stated that the enterprise would play an important role in supplying raw materials to defense industry plants, including those in Brașov, Cugir, Sadu, and Dragomirești.
On March 5, the court ruled to implement a temporary procedure for protection against forced debt collection at the enterprise. The plant has two months to submit a restructuring plan to its creditors.
Liberty Galați is one of the largest steel producers in Romania, providing jobs for over 4,500 employees and having an annual capacity of 3 million tons of steel.