Montenegrin EPCG will resume steel production at the Toscelik Niksic plant

The state energy company of Montenegro Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) will soon resume steel production at the Toscelik Niksic steel plant. It is reported by S&P Global.

EPCG acquired the steel plant from Turkiye’s Tosyali Holding in January 2023. According to the company, the plant officially resumed work last week. After the preparatory period, steel production will resume here, the exact date is not known.

Turkiye’s Tosyali bought Zeljezara Niksic in 2012 for €15.1 million at a public auction and renamed it Toscelik Niksic. Since then, the company has invested in the enterprise to modernize production technologies and improve product quality. At the beginning of 2021, Tosyali stopped production due to a reduction in orders that was related to the pandemic. This led to talks about selling the plant. Negotiations between EPCG and the Turkish company began in 2022.

The value of the transaction was €20 million, which was paid in two installments. An initial payment of €15 million was to be made by January 15, 2023, and the remaining €5 million was to be paid on February 15, when EPCG will take full ownership of the company.

Niksic produces alloy steel, non-alloy steel, roller-bearing steel, tool steel, and heat-resistant steel. EPCG plans to create a technology center at the plant to support solar energy. The company also intends to produce solar panels at the plant’s facilities.

As GMK Center reported earlier, at the end of January, US Steel Kosice resumed work of blast furnace №2, which was stopped for maintenance in September 2022. Thus, the Slovak steel company works on all three blast furnaces.