Natural gas price hike to affect many companies

The National Energy Regulatory Authority announced yesterday that the price of natural gas will increase on average by 8.5 percent next month, with other possible adjustments to be anlyzed as of September, depending on import prices.

The hike will seriously affect the business of chemical fertilizer plants, whose proportion of cost of natural gas makes up 75 percent of total finished product. Ioan Niculae, President of the InterAgro Group which includes the Amonil, Amurco, DonawChem and Azochim plants, said yesterday that the price hike will mean a drop in revenue of €22-24 million. “According to a quick calculation, the price hike will mean daily losses of €2 million. This is because we cannot raise the prices on our products, as these are set on the international market,” added Niculae. In the glass industry, producers fear an effect on both internal and external sales. “The hike in gas prices will lead to a rise of some 3 percent of the cost of window pane production, while the distribution price will increase 5 percent. We will be forced to drop exports significantly,” according to a declaration yesterday for Business Standard by Vsevolod Barbaneagra, General Manager of Gerom Buzau window pane producer.