Mytilineos said Friday that its subsidiary Sometra in Romania has started operation following the completion of its restructuring.
The restructuring involved productivity improvement, and compliance with environmental regulations.
Mytilineos holds in metallurgical Sometra a 88% stake. It has spent over $30 million in Sometra since 1988 when it bought an initial 57% stake. The investment aims at a 20-25% higher production rate plus cost cuttings. Sometra had a headcount of 3,400 employees, the figure stands at 1,200 now. Production is seen reaching 80,000 tonnes in 2007 from 35,000 in 1998.
Mytilineos expects Sometra to post arecord-high revenues and profits in 2007 based on the higher production and high metal prices.