Amonil losses shrink

Amonil Slobozia, the chemical fertiliser producer, started the year with 3.5 times lower losses than last year, despite the difficulties with gas supplies at the beginning of the year, which caused additional expenditures for the company. Amonil lost some 230,000 euros (0.83 million RON) in the first three months, compared to the 800,000 euros in the same time last year. Amonil, as well as the other producers of chemical fertilisers, was hurt in January by the interuptions of gas deliveries, due to extremely low temperatures registered in the Russian Federation. The company was thus forced to stop production for a few days and incurred additional expenditure to resume production. In spite of this, the turnover for the first three months was almost equal to the same period of last year, 72.1 million RON (almost 21 million euros). Amonil continued to invest in the joint venture Amochim, which produces truck fuel and is currently examining the possibility of starting bio-diesel production. ZF