Bulgaria's OTZK sees 2009 metals output flat

Bulgaria's second largest lead and zinc smelter, will keep its 2009 metals output target unchanged despite the global financial crisis, a senior company official said on Monday. Roberto Mladenov, chief executive of Intertrust, which controls OTZK, said the smelter plans to produce 27,000 tonnes of zinc this year, virtually unchanged from its 2008 output.
The smelter, on the outskirts of the town of Kardzhali in southern Bulgaria, sees lead production in the range of 24,000-27,000 tonnes, also in line with last year. OTZK's lead production was 23,700 tonnes in 2008, down by 5.2 percent from its initial forecast of 25,000 tonnes. "There will be no changes (in our output targets). We are not going to either increase or cut them," Mladenov told Reuters in a telephone conversation.