11.6 million tons with zero excess capacity, while
the next two years were equally good, followed by
a precipitous fall during the three-years 2009-
2011. Thus, reportedly, the Titan group has been
utilizing more than 50% of its kiln capacity at its
Kamari, Patras and Thessaloniki plants. Similarly,
AGET has been running its Mylaki and Volos
kilns, albeit not the one in Chalkis, while Halyps,
Greece’s third largest cement industry, operates
at almost 30% of its production capacity.
Steel demand
Cement demand*
*Domestic market
**Estimate
Source:
Hellenic Steel Industry Association and Hellenic
Cement Industry Association
Glass industry
One of the biggest names of traditional Greek
industry, Yioula, the country’s only glass industry,
is grappling, for a second year in a row, with the
overwhelming problems caused by the Greek cri-
sis. Despite the fact that the company has signif-
icantly increased its turnover in the past two-
years (both in 2011, and the extremely tough
2012), mainly based on the sales of its factories
in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, Yioula is see-
ing its profits evaporate, owing to a dramatic
increase in energy, as well as financial, costs.
Indeed, in the first half of the year the firm
increased its sales by 11.5% (translated to the
extra production of millions of items), only to see
its net loss rising from €1.7 to €2 million. The rise
of raw material costs, as well as the explosion of
borrowing costs, were instrumental to this devel-
opment. In the case of heavy industries, such as
Yioula, energy costs account for 35%-40% of total
production costs, dealing a crippling blow to the
competitiveness of Greek-based production units.
Refineries
A common feature of the financial results of
Greece’s two largest oil refining groups (Hellenic
Trade with Greece
46
Year
2007
2008
2011
2012
Demand in
million tons
2.1
1.750
0.65
0.35*
Year
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012
Demand in
million tons 11.6 11 10,2 7.8 6.5 4.5-5.5**
