Bulgaria produces more ferrous metals than steel Bulgaria produced more copper, zinc and lead than steel. Currently, non-ferrous metallurgy gives 80% of the production in the sector. This data of the Bulgarian Association of Metallurgical Industry (BAMI) was given on the occasion of today's industry holiday. By 1989 Kremikovtzi, Stomana and Promet produced around 3 million tons of steel, in 2001 production fell to 2 million tons per year, then after the halt of Kremikovtzi in 2008 output shrank to 500 thousand tons. Meanwhile Bulgaria sells more copper, lead and zinc, which is a result of large investments in the sector. Only in 2013, for example, were invested BGN 200 million in new facilities and technology. Bulgaria currently holds 13.8% of the production of anode copper in the EU, 5.2% of lead and 3.7% of zinc. "The good thing is that they are expensive metals for which demand is growing worldwide, said CEO of BAMI Politimi Paunova. Ton of copper on the London Metal Exchange cost USD 7-8 thousand, while a ton of rebar is about USD 200. Despite the difficult economic environment and the expensive electricity, Bulgarian metallurgical industry has a significant share in the total industrial output. In 2013 sector output is about BGN 7 billion. It forms about 15% of exports and labor productivity is three times higher than the national average. Bulgarian companies work primarily with imported concentrates and still manage to be competitive, said Paunova. It shows they are well technologically developed.
Source: Presa (05.11.2014)