Severnav Drobeta Turnu Severin shipyard made 0.84 million-euro (3 million RON) profit in the first nine months of the year, against an about 73,000-euro (0.26 million RON) loss in the corresponding period of last year.
However, the company's business went down by about three times to 4.32 million euros (15.2 million RON) in the same period. Severnav's nine-month turnover stood at 12.5 million euros (45.5 million RON) last year.
The lower turnover is due to the stock production that could not be delivered to beneficiaries because of the low water level of the Danube, which made it impossible to transport the ships to the Black Sea, the company's management says.
"The company's business was negatively affected by the falling Danube water level, which did not allow for transport of completed ships. Right now we have an over 20 million-euro ship waiting to be delivered to the beneficiary," stated Stelian Stancioiu, the general manager of Severnav.
"This does not result in the company paying damages because this is a case of force majeure stipulated in contracts and no one can be held liable under the circumstances," he added.
The company made about 30 million euros (109.4 million RON) from inventory variation in the first nine months.
"The high value of the inventories is because of the unfinished production being registered as inventory, as shipbuilding is done under firm contracts. The contracts are registered in the accounting books in line with the norms for products with a long manufacturing cycle. We have ships contracted for as late as 2008," Stelian Stancioiu said.
He specified exporters in Romania, Severnav included, were severely affected by the unfavourable exchange rate difference.
"This is a difficult situation for all exporters at the moment.
"Even though the price for shipbuilding is negotiated in euros, the raw materials are contracted from suppliers in domestic currency, which has led to an increase in expenses," Stelian Stancioiu says.
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