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Romania Metallurgy
Attaining self-sufficiency in steel to supply the vital
machine-building industry was a primary economic goal
after World
War II. It was Romania's determination to pursue that goal
and to
build the Galati steelworks that precipitated the clash
with
Khrushchev and Comecon in 1964. Steel output rose from
550,000 tons
in 1950 to 1.8 million tons in 1960 to 6.5 million tons in
1970.
Despite this impressive growth, production fell short of
demand,
and the steel was of insufficient quality for many
machine-building
applications. Therefore the government decided in the
early 1970s
to build a state-of-the-art steelworks at Tîrgoviste using
West
German technology. In the second half of the decade,
another large
complex was built at Calarasi--again with Western
technology.
But the industry failed to reach its 1980 production
target of 18
million tons, as the country headed into a general
economic
decline. Production in 1985 was 13.8 million tons, and in
1988 it
was 14.3 million tons--still below target but sufficient
to place
Romania among the world's top ten producers on a per
capita basis.
Romania also imported Soviet technology. Using Soviet
rolling
mills delivered in 1985, the Galati steelworks and the
Republica
works in Bucharest began manufacturing 1,420-millimeter
seamless
steel pipe for Soviet gas pipelines; Romania was the only
nonSoviet Comecon member to obtain this technology. In the
late 1980s,
the Soviets also agreed to equip a new steel plant at
Slatina.
The Soviet Union also became the chief foreign supplier
of raw
materials for the steel industry, including iron ore and
coking
coal. Because of its participation in the Krivoy Rog
iron-ore
development project, Romania was assured of receiving 27
to 30
percent of output from that complex up to the year 2000.
Australia
was another promising supplier; the Hancock Mining Company
signed
a contract to improve the ore-transloading facility at
Constanta
and to deliver 53 million tons of iron ore between 1988
and 2000.
Nonferrous metallurgy, which dates to pre-Roman times,
became
increasingly important after World War II. Output during
the period
of 1966-82 increased an average 8.1 percent annually.
Nonferrous
metals increased their share of total industrial output
from 3.2
percent in 1966 to 4.0 percent in 1982. Following World
War II,
Romania built flotation plants at six new sites and
modernized
existing facilities. Major centers of the industry
included
Branesti in Galati judet, Baia Mare, Copsa Mica in
Sibiu judet, Zlatna in Alba judet, Tulcea,
Oradea,
Slatina, and Moldova Noua in Caras-Severin judet.
The
copper and aluminum industries received special attention.
Aluminum
output increased by a factor of twenty-seven between 1965
and 1987.
Construction of a major new aluminum combine, using Soviet
technology, was under consideration in the late 1980s. New
copper,
titanium, and vanadium mines were also being developed to
reduce
dependence on imports. Through participation in projects
to develop
nonferrous metal resources in the Soviet Union and in a
number of
Third-World nations, Romania secured foreign supplies of
critical
ores.
Data as of July 1989
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