SOFIA (Bulgaria), November 14 (SeeNews) – Cargo turnover at Bulgaria’s Black Sea port of Burgas fell by 64.7% year-on-year to 734,550 tonnes through mid-November as supplies of raw materials to insolvent local steel mill Kremikovtzi dried down, Burgas Port CEO Argir Boyadzhiev said.
"Kremikovtzi accounts for 50% of the cargo turnover at the port and the ambiguities surrounding it are worrisome, although we anticipated the crisis,” Boyadzhiev said in an interview for local business daily Pari published on Friday.
“The port is now seeking to increase transit cargo in order to compensate for the reduced shipments for Kremikovtzi. It is also expecting that exporters of wheat and sunflower will start shipments at the end of December, as they are currently awaiting more favourable prices," he said.
Kremikovtzi workers have been holding a series of protests in Sofia this week urging the government to act fast to save the plant from closing down for good its iron and steel making facilities. The plant is urgently seeking an operator that would supply raw materials and will keep it running during its insolvency procedure, after a company associated with Ukrainian tycoon Konstyantin Zhevago suspended its tolling contract with the mill in October.
The port has made redundant 126 workers and currently operates with 1,415 staff but job cuts will continue, Boyadzhiev said.
The further development of the entire Burgas port hinges on the fate of Kremikovtzi. For instance, if the steel mill switches entirely from melting iron ore to processing scrap metal, the port will have to fundamentally change its logistics operations, said Boyadzhiev.
Burgas port workers will go on strike next week over the shutdown of Kremikovtzi to prevent further layoffs at the port, local Monitor daily reported.