Italian steel maker Beltrame’s Group Business Development and Country Manager France & Romania Mr Carlo Beltrame in an interview with Forbes Romania has restated plans for Romania. He told “In the next period, the activity of the Beltrame group will be intense. Following the recent acquisition of COS Târgoviște assets, we are in the process of restarting the plant this month. In the first phase, the combined plant will have a production capacity of around 30,000 tonnes per month, meaning over 300,000 tonnes per year. This will cover about half of Romania's current need for steel-concrete for the construction industry. The objective is to deliver value-added products to end customers. We aim to have 450 employees by the end of July, and by the fifth year of the investment we will generate around 1000 jobs locally.”He underlined that “One of the main concerns in the next period is to manage the problem of energy costs for factories in Romania. Currently, energy represents about 30-35% of the production cost at the Donalam Calarasi plant, where we manufacture steel bars and special steels for industries such as oil & gas, automotive, mechanical and agricultural equipment industry. At current prices, it is very difficult to compete with our products in European markets. Industrial inflation is 3 times higher than the level of inflation for the final consumer. Another concern is related to the supply chain, especially in Romania. We import raw materials such as billet from Russia, and in the context of the war, which caused the disruption of the supply chains, we are forced to find other raw material suppliers. For the next period, I am concerned about the energy crisis and how it will affect production capacities, given that the large industrial consumers in Romania do not benefit from state support for the increase in energy prices, unlike most other EU countries where the government act quickly. Along with the problem on the energy market, the conflict in Ukraine brought Romania's economy into a period of stagflation, which paralyzes industrial development.”He also said “We will produce steel-concrete for the domestic market, to reduce Romania's dependence on imports from Europe and Turkey. We plan to invest an average of 20 million euros annually, over the next 5 years, to modernize the equipment and machinery of COS Targoviste, and 80% of the total investment will go to reducing carbon emissions, increasing energy efficiency and the transition to a circular economy, by reusing resources and minimizing waste. We also intend to come with a working capital of 30-40 million euros.”He added “In addition to the commissioning of COS Târgoviște, we are in the authorization phase for the new Beltrame project which involves the construction, also on the site in Târgoviște, of a new steel-concrete and laminated wire factory with low carbon emissions. The value of the investment will be over 300 million euros. We will be conducting the environmental impact assessment study, which will take approximately 9 months, during which time we will finalize the orders with our technology and equipment suppliers. We estimate that the plant will be operational by mid-2024. With the completion of this investment, we will have a production capacity of approximately 800,000 tonnes of steel-concrete and rolled wire annually, while domestic consumption is estimated at 1.5 million tonnes in the following years.”
Italian steel maker Beltrame’s Group Business Development and Country Manager France & Romania Mr Carlo Beltrame in an interview with Forbes Romania has restated plans for Romania. He told “In the next period, the activity of the Beltrame group will be intense. Following the recent acquisition of COS Târgoviște assets, we are in the process of restarting the plant this month. In the first phase, the combined plant will have a production capacity of around 30,000 tonnes per month, meaning over 300,000 tonnes per year. This will cover about half of Romania's current need for steel-concrete for the construction industry. The objective is to deliver value-added products to end customers. We aim to have 450 employees by the end of July, and by the fifth year of the investment we will generate around 1000 jobs locally.”He underlined that “One of the main concerns in the next period is to manage the problem of energy costs for factories in Romania. Currently, energy represents about 30-35% of the production cost at the Donalam Calarasi plant, where we manufacture steel bars and special steels for industries such as oil & gas, automotive, mechanical and agricultural equipment industry. At current prices, it is very difficult to compete with our products in European markets. Industrial inflation is 3 times higher than the level of inflation for the final consumer. Another concern is related to the supply chain, especially in Romania. We import raw materials such as billet from Russia, and in the context of the war, which caused the disruption of the supply chains, we are forced to find other raw material suppliers. For the next period, I am concerned about the energy crisis and how it will affect production capacities, given that the large industrial consumers in Romania do not benefit from state support for the increase in energy prices, unlike most other EU countries where the government act quickly. Along with the problem on the energy market, the conflict in Ukraine brought Romania's economy into a period of stagflation, which paralyzes industrial development.”He also said “We will produce steel-concrete for the domestic market, to reduce Romania's dependence on imports from Europe and Turkey. We plan to invest an average of 20 million euros annually, over the next 5 years, to modernize the equipment and machinery of COS Targoviste, and 80% of the total investment will go to reducing carbon emissions, increasing energy efficiency and the transition to a circular economy, by reusing resources and minimizing waste. We also intend to come with a working capital of 30-40 million euros.”He added “In addition to the commissioning of COS Târgoviște, we are in the authorization phase for the new Beltrame project which involves the construction, also on the site in Târgoviște, of a new steel-concrete and laminated wire factory with low carbon emissions. The value of the investment will be over 300 million euros. We will be conducting the environmental impact assessment study, which will take approximately 9 months, during which time we will finalize the orders with our technology and equipment suppliers. We estimate that the plant will be operational by mid-2024. With the completion of this investment, we will have a production capacity of approximately 800,000 tonnes of steel-concrete and rolled wire annually, while domestic consumption is estimated at 1.5 million tonnes in the following years.”
