Type
Internal restructuring
Country
Slovakia
Region
Stredne Slovensko; Banskobystricky kraj;
Location of affected unit(s)
Ziar nad Hronom
Sector
Manufacturing
Manufacture Of Basic Metal And Fabricated Metal Products
Manufacture Of Basic Metals
24.42 - Aluminium production

300 - 320 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
14 July 2022
Employment effect (start)
1 January 2023
Foreseen end date

Description

Slovalco, the only aluminium producer in Slovakia, has announced that it will lay off 300 of its 450 employees. Redundancies in the Ziar nad Hronom-based company are attributed to rising electricity prices, low aluminium prices and high emission permit prices. To respond to these factors, the company gradually reduced its production and workforce. According to the Minister of Economy, what happened in Slovalko is really a catastrophe and the Ministry undertook all activities in its competency, but they were not sufficient.

Slovalco is owned by Slovak Penta Group and Norsk Hydro.

UPDATE, 05/10/2022

Slovalco aluminium plant is delaying the announced dismissals until the end of 2022 to ensure the safe decommissioning of furnaces and subsequent cleaning of the premises. Dismissals will not take place before the beginning of 2023. Slovalco intends to retain approximately 130 employees to continue operating their recycling centre.

While restarting the furnaces is considered financially challenging for Slovalco, the company has acknowledged that with financial reserves from sales in Q4 of 2022 and the potential adoption of an amendment to the law on increasing compensation for energy-intensive enterprises, restarting the furnaces in the future is a possibility.


Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2022), Slovalco, Internal restructuring in Slovakia, factsheet number 107110, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/107110.