In Germany, the agricultural, logistics and transport sectors are closely linked to the nitrogen works in Wittenberg. The company is struggling with the costs of the gas crisis. The consequences of a production stop could reach the food shelves.
Wittenberg (dpa/sa) - One of the largest fertilizer producers in Germany, SKW nitrogen works Piesteritz in Wittenberg, is threatened with a production stop and short-time work in view of the gas crisis. The reason is the extremely high gas prices and the gas surcharge, said a spokesman for the company on Wednesday in Wittenberg. The broadcaster MDR Saxony-Anhalt had previously reported on it. The energy crisis hit the company extremely hard. Production requires a lot of gas.
The situation at SKW was also a topic at the energy summit of the state government of Saxony-Anhalt. Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) then emphasized on Tuesday that the state wanted to continue to strengthen the federal government so that companies such as SKW or the chemical parks that determine the structure of eastern Germany received relief in the energy crisis. The jobs should be secured.
SKW now has to pay a monthly gas levy of 30 million euros, said the company spokesman. That cannot be done financially. The company is demanding relief from the levy. It's not about being preferred. "It's about staying internationally competitive," said the spokesman. "If everything stays the way it is now, we will be forced to register short-time work by October 1 at the latest," he said. That would affect almost all of the approximately 860 jobs at SKW.
"Short-time work would mean that all production would then have to be shut down," he said. This would have serious consequences for the economy in Germany, for suppliers, dependent companies, for many families in the structurally weak region. SKW is the largest producer of ammonia and urea in Germany. It is thus an important producer of fertilizers for agriculture linked to the food sector.
AdBlue is also produced at SKW. The urea solution is used in the exhaust aftertreatment of diesel engines and reduces the emitted nitrogen oxides by up to 90 percent. Almost every truck in the forwarding, logistics and transport industry in Germany runs on diesel. "The vehicles also bring the groceries to the supermarkets," said the company spokesman. SKW, with an annual turnover of around 500 million euros (2020), belongs to the Czech group Agrofert (Prague) with around 32,000 employees.
Many medium-sized and small companies are dependent on SKW. "We assess the situation as highly dramatic," said Wittenberg district administrator Christian Tylsch (CDU) about the mood in the region. A shutdown of SKW would have far-reaching consequences for hundreds of families, entire generations, who are connected to the plant. "These are all destinies," he said.
The production site has a history of more than 100 years. Today's company is structurally decisive in the region. It is existential for the district, also in terms of trade tax revenue. "We're talking about amounts in the tens of millions that we would then be missing," said the CDU politician. Social services, voluntary educational, cultural and leisure activities are dependent on this.
