Romanian wire producer enters insolvency

Romanian steel wire producer Dan Steel has been directed into insolvency proceedings following a request from creditor Unicredit Leasing Corporation, Kallanish learns from a stock exchange filing.

The administrators appointed are a consortium of CITR Filiala Cluj-Napoca and Prime Insolv Practice. The proceedings will be supervised by the Beclean court, where Dan Steel is headquartered.

The deadline for submission of claims is 18 July, the deadline for verification and communication of those claims is 8 August, and the deadline for resolving any appeals and displaying the final table of receivables is 2 September. The deadline for the court’s decision on the findings is 16 September. There will be a right to appeal within seven days of the court announcing its decision.

Dan Steel produces a range of carbon and galvanized steel wire, as well as welded mesh, fencing and nails. The company imports feedstock from Ukraine, Italy, Poland, Belarus and Moldova, from suppliers such as ArcelorMittal, Metinvest, Belarussian Steel Works and Moldova Steel Works. The firm’s main competitors are IS Campia Turzii, Ductil Steel Buzau, and Metalicplas. The main export markets in 2019 were Hungary and Slovakia.

In 2019 the firm suffered from weaker domestic demand compared to 2018 and had planned to increase exports to new markets after shipments abroad also declined on-year. Production fell -26% on-year last year to 31,994 tonnes. Net sales fell -15% to RON 117.4 million ($27.6m), while net loss more than doubled to RON 21.88m.

The firm furloughed all employees bar security staff from 1 April due to the Covid-19 pandemic impact.