Approximately 1,300 employees, or one-third of the workforce, of the Romanian aluminium smelter Alro (ALR), may lose their jobs as the company will reduce its primary aluminum production by 60% next year, representatives of the trade union warned, according to Profit.ro.

Even more may remain unemployed, as companies in the region that depend on Alro employ up to 20,000. A rally was scheduled at the company’s headquarters, for December 30. The trade union urged the Government and president to intervene to “rescue the country’s aluminium industry.”

Several months earlier, the largest fertilizer producer in the country, Azomures, announced that it suspended production because of excessive natural gas prices.

Alro has announced such a massive reduction in the capacity of raw aluminium production from five to two electrolysis units in response to the surge in the electricity price coupled with a low domestic electricity output. Besides being the country’s largest electricity consumer, Alro uses natural gas as well.

Romanian aluminium producer cuts production by 60% due to electricity shortage

A couple of days before the announcement, Alro reported that it purchased Vimetco Trading - the group’s trading arm - from Vimetco PLC. The value of the deal was RON 15.6 million (EUR 3.15 mln). Alro is 54% controlled by the Russian group Vimetco. Local Paval Holding holds a 23% stake while Fondul Proprietatea has a 10% stake.

The trade union’s representatives - who announced the management’s decision ahead of the official notification sent by Alro to investors - claim that resuming operations at the three production units the company plans to close would require “hundreds of millions of euros” implying that this might not happen too soon.

The company's management assured that it is not currently considering dismissals of employees, but only measures to make the use of labour more efficient, measures that may include periods of technical unemployment or undertaking revisions and repairs.