Traditional company on the verge of collapse: Porcelain manufacturer Kahla cannot find a gas supplier

If a solution is not found quickly, it could come to an end with the porcelain manufacturer Kahla in Thuringia after almost 180 years. The manufactory uses a lot of gas, the previous supplier has terminated the contract. And the search for a new provider is difficult.

The Thuringian porcelain manufacturer Kahla is on the verge of collapse. According to a report in the “Ostthüringer Zeitung”, production at the traditional company could have to be stopped as early as January 1, 2023. Managing Director Daniel Jeschonowski gave the reason that the previous gas supplier had terminated the contract. “It’s a desolate, disastrous situation,” Jeschonowski told the newspaper. “If we run out of gas, we can no longer produce,” he said.

According to Jeschonowski, talks about a new contract were going on, but they turned out to be difficult. Since the annual consumption of the porcelain manufactory is extremely high at 25 million kilowatt hours, guarantees are required from suppliers. “And we can’t do it alone,” Jeschonowski told the newspaper. According to the company, if production were to stop, the future of 150 employees would be in jeopardy.

In the “Ostthüringer Zeitung”, the Kahla boss appealed to the federal and state governments to help businesses quickly. “We need a supply guarantee that assures us at least 50 to 70 percent of our previous gas consumption. We don’t want to squander the gas, but have already saved a third of our energy consumption with the same production,” said Jeschonowski. And further: “We can bear a tripling or quintupling of the prices, but not a thirty-fold increase,” he explains the dimension of the problem for his company, which has existed since 1844.

The district administrator of the Saale-Holzland district, the CDU politician Andreas Heller, also expressed alarm. “Here in Kahla it’s about to be or not to be. I get very emotional on the subject because we are always told: ‘The gas storage tanks are full, don’t worry.’ A lot is also glossed over in the media. And then you hear this here,” he told the “Ostthüringer Zeitung”.