“As of 1 August, we recalled employees to return to full capacity production. We organized an employment fair and hope to fill vacancies with a further 200 employees,” according to a declaration for Business Standard by Ioan Siberias, head of the Azomures union. The producer announced turnover worth RON 326.6 million (€77.2 mln) for the first six months, down 44.8 percent year-on-year, due to a dramatic drop in domestic and international demand for chemical fertilizers, and a lowering of prices. Furthermore, the volume of Azomures sales on the foreign market dropped 64.6% in H1 compared to the first half of 2008, according to company representatives. Net profit in this period was a staggering 87.28 percent lower than in the first six months in 2008, down to RON 16.82 million (€3.9 mln), due to an unexpected drop in sales prices at the beginning of last year, explained company officials, who added that financial results were also affected by significant stocks of fertilizers produced last year at far higher prices than current ones.
The company is forecasting revenue down by 37.8 percent, or RON 839.5 million (€201 mln), and a net profit 6.8 times lower than last year, of RON 7.4 mln (€1.7 mln), as analysts do not expect either demand or the price of fertilizers to recover in the coming period.
