The air for one of Saxony-Anhalt's economic figureheads is getting thinner. In the meantime, concern is also growing among the workforce at SKW Piesteritz. Production is at a standstill. The state government wants to help.
Lutherstadt Wittenberg (dpa/sa) - Concerns among the workforce of one of the largest fertilizer producers in Germany, SKW nitrogen works Piesteritz in Wittenberg, are growing. The employees have no understanding that politics is playing with the industry, said a company spokesman on Thursday with a view to the gas levy. The ammonia plants are already shut down. There is a risk of short-time work, the spokesman said.
It is currently not worth starting up an ammonia plant that is available again. The company would lose as much in a month as it makes in profit in a year, the spokesman said. In view of the gas crisis, there is now a complete production stop. Nothing has been produced for days. October 1st is the start of possible short-time work for the workforce.
Reason are the extremely high gas prices and the gas surcharge. The energy crisis is hitting the company extremely hard because production requires a lot of gas. SKW is expected to have to pay a gas surcharge of EUR 30 million per month. The spokesman said it was not financially feasible.
He is in daily contact with company management anyway, said Saxony-Anhalt's Economics Minister Sven Schulze (CDU) during a factory visit on Thursday. But he also cares about the workforce. He explained to the chairmen of the works council what efforts and ideas had been placed in Berlin together with SKW. He has the feeling that there is movement in there. At least there is a clear commitment from State Secretary Michael Kellner from the Federal Ministry of Economics that all solutions from Saxony-Anhalt will be examined intensively by the Federal Government. These prospects should also spread confidence, said Schulze.
The head of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in southern Saxony-Anhalt, Thomas Brockmeier, described the introduction of the gas levy as a "death blow" for energy-intensive companies. He also named SKW Piesteritz as an example. A production stop would have "far-reaching consequences" - not only for suppliers and many families in the structurally weak region. Due to a lack of fertilizers, crop failures are also to be feared. Because SKW is the largest producer of ammonia and urea in Germany. It is thus an important fertilizer manufacturer for agriculture.
If SKW does not produce, goods traffic will also stop on the road, the company spokesman continued. Because at SKW AdBlue is also produced in considerable quantities. The urea solution is used in the exhaust aftertreatment of diesel engines. According to the SKW spokesman, almost every truck in the forwarding, logistics and transport industry in Germany runs on diesel. SKW belongs to the Czech group Agrofert (Prague).
