Decarbonization, delignification, denickelization. It seems the government has succeeded on all three counts amid these unprecedented circumstances. energy crisis which takes off against the backdrop of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Following the suspension of investigations into hydrocarbons in Greek waters, the violent de-lignification which is now forcing the Public Power Corporation (PPC) to run its lignite-fired power plants at full capacity, but with insufficient quantities of lignite; now it is also becoming clear that The fiasco of the forced sale of LARCO, which could generate significant revenue from mining and processing nickel.
From March 1 through yesterday, the price of the metal quadrupled to $80,025 per metric ton, the highest price it has ever reached, as Western sanctions against Russia are raising concerns about the availability of nickel, which is needed in both the steel industry and vehicle batteries.
Russia is offering its 10% nickel on the global market, particularly refined nickel intended for batteries, and the massive demand for futures contracts for the metal’s delivery sent its price soaring during yesterday’s session on the London Metal Exchange to over 100,000 per metric ton, forcing the exchange’s management to suspend trading.
Given this development, the workers at LARCO—who are counting down the days until their layoffs and eviction— have every reason to wonder what—and whom—the government’s insistence on abruptly shutting down LARCO serves, one of the largest nickel and, in particular, ferronickel producers in Europe, in order to hand it over to private investors, as part of the parallel tenders for the sale of metallurgical assets by TAIPED and the special administrator.
Already, as of last Saturday, when the price of nickel had risen to $30,000 per metric ton, the LARCO workers’ union issued a statement noting that major mining and metallurgical centers were forecasting a doubling of prices in the near future, a prediction that was confirmed and even exceeded within just 24 hours.
«LARCO has the capacity to produce 60 metric tons of nickel per day, which amounts to $1,800,000, or $650,000,000 a year, and if prices double, they’ll exceed one billion.», the union stated, accusing the government of not even maintaining a pretense of propriety in the much-touted «consultations» that are taking place.
«It defiantly refuses to provide us with the necessary information it is required to submit in order to substantiate its proposal… It wants to wrap up the consultation process quickly in order to shut down LARCO’s operations as well… During the two four-hour consultation sessions that took place, the dozens of questions submitted by union members asking “what plan they have to ensure the continued operation of LARCO” went unanswered.».
The workers' union reports that during these consultations, TAIPED (the government) and the special administration are proposing:
■ Compensation paid from the funds saved through cuts (to salaries, bonuses, and allowances) during the two-year liquidation period, totaling 21 million euros
■ Employees over the age of 55 are being forced to leave LARCO and the company-owned housing, without knowing where they will go, how they will live, or how long they will have to stay there.
■ Employees under the age of 55 are to be rehired on three-month contracts by the company responsible for the shutdown of LARCO, with contracts renewed on a monthly basis.
«The only thing the consultations did for the workers was to reveal the government's true intentions regarding the closure of LARCO.», the workers say, and they promise to continue their protests.
And indeed, we cannot help but agree with their key observation regarding the enormous profits that LARCO is missing out on amid the surge in nickel prices. We would add that the government’s «de-nickelization» plan for the 1,080 workers is a cynical act of «dehumanization.».
