“Dunaferr has weathered an era that was extremely difficult for the steel industry, and through the correct delineation of its long-term strategy the company has gained strength and has now entered a growth trajectory”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference on Tuesday in Budapest.
Last year, the company produced its most successful years since the 2008 crisis and successfully closed its modernisation programme, and it recently succeeded in coming to an agreement with workers’ representatives on an average wage increase of 15 percent, he added.
The Hungarian Government is providing training and vocational workshop funding to facilitate an increase in the number of Dunaferr’s staff, Mr. Szijjártó said, pointing out that the regulatory environment that supports workforce mobility is also facilitating staff increases on the part of the company.
The Minister told the press that for many years metallurgy and the steel industry were determining sectors of Hungarian industry, and the continued existence of the industry and the maintaining of its competitiveness remains in the interests of the national economy.
Following the 2008 crisis, Dunaferr was fighting for survival, and the livelihoods of thousands of families was in danger, he pointed out, adding that developments of on the global market had not helped the company, with global and European changes on the steel market both working against Dunaferr.
The Minister said that in his opinion cooperation between politics, the Government, the company and the city had enabled Dunaferr to increase its production in 2017 and to achieve market successes.
Mr. Szijjártó said that the fact that the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant and the growth of the Hungarian automotive industry were both generating a marked increase in demand for steel were a positive challenge for the company, and Dunaferr must realise its programme to become a competitive tier-one supplier to the automotive industry.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade stressed that Hungary is supporting the European Union’s efforts to protect the European steel industry, and was the first country to join the G20 forum aimed at the rational reduction of unused capacities on the global market.
At the press conference, CEO of ISD Dunaferr Evgeny Tankhilevich said that the successes of last year include the fact that the company is now in a better economic position and is capable of providing its workers with a significant wage increase.
According to the CEO the company is approaching further economic success, and indicated that the company would like to link to the Paks II project as a supplier of steel and become a leading supplier to the automotive industry.
The region’s Member of Parliament Dénes Galambos pointed out that the wage agreement signed with Dunaferr directly affects some 6 thousand employees and the fate of some 12 thousand people.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
