Călărași steel works

The Călărași steel works (Romanian: Combinatul Siderurgic Călărași), formally Donasid Călărași and formerly Siderca Călărași, is a steel mill in Călărași, Romania.

The genesis of the project took place during the communist regime on a July morning in 1974, when dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, returning from a visit to Constanța, stopped at the garbage mound at the edge of Călărași and decided a steel mill would be built there. Plans were drawn up, construction being delayed the following year mainly due to floods. The first stake was driven in March 1976, although building, engineered by IPROMET Bucharest, did not begin in earnest until 1978. A foreign loan totaling over $100 million was taken out, and the factory was inaugurated in 1979. Covering 650 ha on the Borcea branch of the Danube, 6,000 workers were initially hired. These came from the area and the rest of the country, while experts were brought in from the works at Reșița, Galați and Hunedoara. Work went on seven days a week, twelve hours a day; generous salaries were paid, as well as bonuses and overtime. Deputy Prime Minister Ion Dincă made frequent quick inspections.

A coking plant was ready in 1986, closing in 1998. Between 1981 and 1986, other units that came on board were the electric steel mill, the rolling mill for mid-sized products, the depot for raw materials and the iron ore enrichment facility. A 13 km-long canal was dug, complete with a port for use solely by the works. Its location in the Danube's immediate vicinity allowed for ore to be transported in and finished products out, as well as its waters to be used in the technical process. The blast furnace, the steel mill with converters and the rolling mill for heavy products and railway tracks were due to start production soon after the 1989 Revolution and fall of the regime halted work on them. By that year, the works were 90% ready, with $1.8 billion having been spent on them. There were 6,500 employees, their number set to rise to 15,000 once the project was complete. There were plans for producing cast iron, mid-sized products, products for the automobile industry and metal ties, with 30% of output for domestic use and the rest for export.

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