The value of the entire chemical industry amounts to €1.5 billion, and its main players are Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea, Doljchim (controlled by Petrom), and Azomures, as high gas and electricity prices have lead many local factories to file for bankruptcy.
The explosion has impacted on the quotation of the company’s shares, which registered the highest correction of all companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The market value of Oltchim dropped to €1.087 billion yesterday from its €1.14 billion registered in the previous session. The price of Oltchim shares plunged by 6.67 percent immediately after the explosion, on transactions totaling less than €100,000 and Oltchim transactions were suspended as of 13:04.
Higher prices of raw materials and the appreciation of the leu have significantly affected Romanian chemical companies who export some 85 percent of their production at prices unable to meet costs.
“Unfortunately, we are facing the Romanian energy policy madness with great difficulty. The annex of the treaty signed by Romania to join the European Union stipulated that we should have dropped the price of gas to $175 [€128] for 1,000 cubic meters by July 2007, but Romania exceeded this target by far,” said Ioan Niculae, President of InterAgro group, adding that the current price surpasses $210 (€153). Romania set a price according to a RON/USD exchange rate of 2.8/1. Today’s dollar barely reaches RON 2.3. “The price of gas and the exchange rate to the dollar affects us significantly,” said Nicolae. Producers are dissatisfied because of the great difference between the gas price from internal production and that of imported gas, amounting to $100 (some €73).
