The Romanian government plans to restart operations at the Otelu Rosu steel plant, which has been idle since 2013. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that the Romanian civil engineering group UMB will invest more than €300 million ($326.5 million) to resume production at the plant located in the western county of Caras-Severin.
"The investment will ensure the production of materials needed for infrastructure projects in Romania," Ciolacu stated in a social media post. The operationalization of the plant is expected to create over 600 jobs.
The Otelu Rosu steel plant has changed ownership multiple times over the past three decades. It was previously owned by Ductil Steel Buzau, a subsidiary of Russia's Mechel, before being sold to local companies Invest Nikarom and later Laminorul Danube Metallurgical Enterprise (LDME). In early 2024, Romanian businessman Dorinel Umbrarescu, the owner of UMB Grup, acquired the plant for €12 million with the intention of producing metal structures for the group's construction activities.
The steel plant is equipped with a 100-tonne electric arc furnace and specializes in the production of various types of billets, which can be further rolled into rebar, wire, or other special products. The plant's design production capacity is 850,000 tonnes per year of steel.
Meanwhile, Turkey-based investment firm Ussuri Capital plans to commission a greenfield cold rolling and galvanizing plant in Romania in 2027, with a capital expenditure estimated at €160 million ($172 million). Romania's crude steel production in 2023 totaled 1.58 million tonnes, down by 39.8% year-on-year, according to worldsteel data.
