By Vlad Makszimov | EURACTIV with Telex

WhatsApp-Image-2022-09-19-at-8.09.35-AM [Shuttestock/skovalsky]

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Steel plant Dunaferr, one of Hungary’s largest industrial manufacturing companies, was forced to shut production, the company said on Saturday.

“The situation of Dunaferr has become untenable”, and after the closure of one blast furnace weeks ago, on 16 September the Dunaújváros-based group was forced to close down the other one, which “could have fatal consequences for one of the largest Hungarian industrial companies”, according to the company, Telex reported.

The company said that the immediate reason for the shutdown is the unexpected refusal of Austria-based Donau Brennstoffkontor GmbH, their partner for decades, to supply the essential raw coke.

“The forced shutdown now means that there is currently no possibility for pig iron and steel production at Dunaferr,” the statement reads.

The company said their only chance of survival is to maintain production and restart the blast furnaces quickly “because a longer shutdown would make Dunaferr’s operations impossible, mainly due to the technical risks and costs of restarting. The only possible solution is for DBK to restart the supply of the necessary quantity and quality of coke within a week at the latest,” they say.

The company employs  4,500 people directly.

Dunaferr has been in reeling for a long time; the coronavirus epidemic, followed by the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the energy crisis have all ‘now put Dunaferr in a situation that the group alone is unable to cope with’, the company said, calling for state intervention.

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