The decline in Georgia’s ferroalloy sector shows no sign of slowing. In the first eight months of this year, ferroalloy exports fell by 38%, with total sales amounting to USD 137.1 million, according to data from Geostat. Despite the drop, ferroalloys remain Georgia’s fifth-largest export commodity, accounting for 3.1% of total exports.
Speaking to BMG, Nugzar Kevlishvili, head of the Ferroalloy Manufacturers Association, described the sector as being in a prolonged crisis, largely due to persistently low global prices:
“For a while, prices seemed to increase in the summer. Now they are still at a low level and unfortunately, nothing good is seen yet. Enterprises are not working and are exporting less. It is not worth it, because most of them cannot meet their cost price. Only a few factories are still operating.”
Kevlishvili noted that some enterprises briefly resumed production in the summer, offsetting costs through cheaper electricity. However, with electricity prices expected to rise again in autumn and winter, many plants will likely suspend operations.
“It has been four years since the sector entered crisis. As soon as the war started in Ukraine, prices fell. This cannot be regulated locally, we are entirely dependent on external factors, that is, on world prices. The crisis is global, in the entire metallurgy sector,” he explained.
