The continuous rise in energy prices in Europe exposes the region’s largest consumers of gas and electricity to significant losses, forcing industrial giants to reduce production, which threatens economic recovery, Bloomberg reports.

With energy prices marking record after record, Europe’s largest aluminum producer, Dunkerque Industries France, has cut production in the past two weeks. Also, the Nyrstar company will stop the production of zinc in France at the beginning of January and the Romanian fertilizer producer Azomureş has temporarily stopped the activity. Alro also announced that it could reduce its production.

“High gas prices for both domestic and industrial consumers will be an obstacle to business. This latest rise in gas prices is clearly a negative development for the outlook for all European economies,” said Sarah Hewin, director of Standard Chartered research.

Aluminum is one of the most energy-intensive industrial metals, and a 500 percent increase in electricity prices has forced Dunkirk Aluminum to cut production by nearly 3 percent, said union spokesman Laurent Geeraert. According to him, the plant in France has lost about 20 million euros since the beginning of November and so far new production cuts could be needed if electricity prices remain high, according to Agerpres.

Romanian aluminum producer Alro also says current prices are unsustainable, while in Montenegro, aluminum producer KAP could be cut off at the end of the year if it refuses to pay the supplier a significantly higher price for next year.

In the case of aluminum plants, a crisis of proportions is looming. The costs of closing and restarting these facilities are high. Aluminum prices have risen by more than 40% this year and demand in Europe is rising but producer profitability is eroded by high energy prices. French plant needs about $11,000 worth of electricity to produce a tonne of aluminum, which sells for about $2,800.