Latvian KVV Liepajas Metalurgs to resume production in April

The steel melting furnaces of Latvia's KVV Liepajas Metalurgs will resume production in April, the metalworking company's CEO Igor Kovalenko said at the plant's re-launch ceremony Friday.

The company's rolling mills have been operating since mid-February and have produced 15,000 tons of reinforced steel bars already.

KVV Liepajas Metalurgs, which is based in the south-western Latvian port city of Liepaja, has 500 employees for now, but plans to increase their number to 1,200-1,400, the Dienas Bizness business newspaper reported.

The metallurgy company buys semi-finished products for its rolling mill in Belarus and in smaller amounts also in Russia. The company will send the first shipment of its products to Algeria, with exports to EU member states and Scandinavia planned in the future, the business paper said.

Kovalenko indicated that the company aimed to increase its monthly production capacity to 800,000 tons, which might be achieved in two to three years.

"For the time being we are planning to concentrate on products that are already being made at the plant and on our existing markets, but in the future we do not rule out seeking new market niches, such as manufacturing of some car parts," Baltic News Service quoted Kovalenko as saying.

In October 2014, the defunct Latvian metallurgical plant was bought by Ukraine's KVV Group. The Ukrainian company will pay 107 million euros (116 million U.S. dollars) for the Latvian metalworking company in several instalments over the next 10 years under the deal.

Liepajas Metalurgs used to be one of the largest industrial enterprises in the Baltic states, as well as one of Latvia's largest exporters, accounting for about 0.7-1 percent of Latvia's GDP.

Liepajas Metalurgs was declared insolvent on Nov. 12, 2013 after the company ran into financial trouble and had to cease production in spring 2013 due to a shortage of working capital. Endit