Montenegrin based company Uniprom has announced its plan to invest around €26-million for upgrading the KAP aluminium smelter. The company's owner Veselin Pejović said this during his recent visit to KAP facilities. Uniprom KAP or Aluminium Plant Podgorica is an aluminium smelter located on the southern outskirts of Montenegro.
Uniprom plans to open a 30,000 tpy production unit for silumin alloys investing €11-million. €15-million is planned to be invested in the construction of an aluminium billets production unit with a production capacity of 70,000 tpy, which will start operation by the end of 2019.
"The two factories will have a combined output of 100,000 tonnes, which means that in 2020 we should have exports of circa $300-million (€266-million)," Pejović said.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković, who was also on a visit to the plant said that Uniprom had installed a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in the plant to replace petroleum fuel.
Uniprom bought KAP smelter from the Government of Montenegro in 2014 for €28-million. The KAP smelter went bankrupt in 2013 after years of financial difficulties, with a debt of €383-million, which was more than double of its €180-million worth. KAP was owned by Salomon Enterprises Limited later renamed CEAC – Central European Aluminum Company. Government of Montenegro had bought a large stake in the formerly privatised company from Cyprus-based CEAC to save it from bankruptcy. Later on it was bought by Uniprom.
KAP smelter is one of the largest employer and exporter in the country and it future remains a significant concern to the government as well as the people.
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