Romanian aluminum producer Alro, on ecotax impact: We could resist only few more months on the market

Romania’s aluminum producer Alro Slatina can only hold out a few more months on the market unless Romanian authorities reduce electricity taxes designed to promote renewable energy, according to its general manager, Gheorghe Dobra. “We are losing USD 15,000 per hour because of ecotaxes […] We can resist only few more months,” said Dobra in a press conference. The company invested over USD 100 million in the last nine years in energy efficiency measures, which triggered a 75 percent decrease in energy consumption per ton of aluminum. “Eventually, we might limit our activity. We analyze the option of importing aluminum ingots,” Dobra said. Part of the electricity Alro needs to produce aluminum comes from state-owned company Hidroelectrica. According to Dobra, the company didn’t renegotiate the price with Hidroelectrica, but takes that into consideration, writes Wall-street.ro. Alro’s chairman of the board, Marian Nastase, recently said that the price paid by the company for electricity is very high, and the measures targeted by the Government to reduce this burden for industrial consumers have not been efficient so far. According to him, Alro pays an average price of USD 80 per MWh of electricity, while in Germany the average price is USD 46.6, and in France is USD 59.6. Alro Slatina reported for 2013 a preliminary adjusted net loss on RON 78 million (some EUR 17.6 million), compared to an adjusted net profit of RON 123 million (EUR 27.6 million) in 2012. It also reported sales of RON 2.02 billion (EUR 458 million) in 2013. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com