Devnya Cement and Vulkan Cement have announced that they have temporarily shut down all the furnaces in two of their production plants.

These actions are a result of the long-term and serious impact of the economic crisis on the Bulgarian construction industry, the group has announced on Wednesday.

They have reported a decline in production demand of more than 40% in 2009 compared to the previous year.

The planned suspension is expected to last for the two months of December 2009 and January 2010. These actions are intended to optimize costs and material stocks during the winter season.

During this period, most employees will be on leave or in another working position. Devnya and Vulcan will continue operations and grinding of cement supply in order to meet the needs of their customers.

This is the third time this year when the company has been forced to take such action. The furnaces in two plants were shut down in March and August.

These reactions, reflecting the seriousness of the current economic situation, are unprecedented in the history of the group in Bulgaria over the past 10 years.

Devnya Cement and Vulkan Cement are part of the Italcimenti Group. They have operated in Bulgaria since privatization in 1998, where the group is the market leader in cement manufacturing.

Italcimenti is the fifth largest cement producer in the world, with annual output of 70 M tons in 22 countries, and the largest supplier in the Mediterranean basin.

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