Industrial EDI — Aurubis, Lukoil, Stomana, Solvay

Beyond grocery retail, EDI also structures Bulgarian heavy industry. The big sites — copper, petrochemicals, steel, chemicals — exchange orders, forecasts and invoices by EDIFACT (the international structured-message standard) and, for technical exchanges, by OFTP2 (Odette File Transfer Protocol, the transfer protocol born in the automotive industry). In practice: a copper-concentrate supplier receives its delivery forecasts from Aurubis as EDIFACT files, not emails.

History — industrial legacy and privatisations

Bulgaria inherited from the socialist era a concentrated heavy-industry base: refining at Burgas (1964), copper metallurgy at Pirdop, soda chemistry at Devnya, steelmaking at Pernik. The post-1997 privatisation wave brought in major foreign groups: Aurubis (ex-Norddeutsche Affinerie) at Pirdop in 2007, Lukoil at Burgas in 1999, Solvay (60%) at Devnya, Sidenor/Viohalco at Pernik (Stomana Industry).

These acquirers imported their European EDI standards. Export-oriented (copper cathodes listed on the LME, refined products, soda ash, steel sections), these sites integrated into continental supply chains, where EDIFACT and OFTP2 are the de facto norm between principals and suppliers.

text industrial-edi-bg-timeline.txt

1964       | Commissioning of the Burgas refinery (today Lukoil Neftohim
           | Burgas), the foundation of Bulgarian petrochemicals.
           |
1997-2007  | Post-transition privatisation wave: the Pirdop smelter passes to
           | Union Minière then Norddeutsche Affinerie (later Aurubis) in
           | 2007; Lukoil takes over Burgas in 1999; Solvay takes 60% of the
           | Devnya soda plant.
           |
2000s      | Integration into European supply chains: EDIFACT for orders and
           | invoices, OFTP2 for technical exchanges (notably automotive and
           | metals).
           |
2010s      | Aurubis "Pirdop" brand listed on the LME; Stomana Industry
           | (Sidenor/Viohalco group, Greece) modernises the Pernik steelworks.
           |
2026       | Euro adoption: conversion of prices and long-term contracts
           | (DELFOR, forecasts) at the fixed rate EUR 1 = BGN 1.95583.

Governance — sector schemas and networks

There is no single Bulgarian authority for industrial EDI: governance is sectoral and private. Message standards come from international bodies — UN/EDIFACT (UNECE), GS1 for GTIN/GLN coding, Odette for automotive and OFTP2. Each principal imposes its implementation guide on its suppliers.

Transport runs over dedicated networks: OFTP2 (over Internet/ISDN) for automotive and metals, AS2 and SFTP for the rest, sometimes via the ENX network (European Network Exchange) for automotive suppliers. Regional VANs convert ERP flows (SAP being dominant among these large accounts) into the expected messages.

Technical schema — EDIFACT + OFTP2

Industrial messages differ from retail: there are more forecasts (DELFOR — Delivery Forecast) and call-offs (DELJIT — Delivery Just-In-Time), in addition to ORDERS / DESADV / INVOIC. Example of a DELFOR forecast to Aurubis:

edifact delfor-aurubis-bg.edi

UNB+UNOA:2+5412345000013:14+8001112000007:14+260616:0900+BG-IND-091'
UNH+1+DELFOR:D:97A:UN'
BGM+241+FCAST-2026-Q3+9'
DTM+137:20260616:102'
NAD+SE+5412345000013::9'      Supplier (Seller GLN)
NAD+BY+8001112000007::9'      Aurubis Bulgaria AD (Buyer GLN)
LIN+1++CU-CATH-A:VP'          Copper cathode, grade A
QTY+1:250:TNE'                Forecast delivery 250 t
SCC+1'
DTM+158:20260701:102'
UNT+10+1'
UNZ+1+BG-IND-091'

DELFOR — rolling delivery forecasts (materials planning).
DELJIT — firm just-in-time call-offs.
ORDERS / ORDRSP — order and acknowledgement.
DESADV + RECADV — dispatch and receipt advices.
INVOIC — commercial invoice, in EUR since 2026.
OFTP2 — secure transport layer (signature, encryption, EERP acknowledgement).

Sectors and protocols

Site	Sector	Location	Dominant EDI
Aurubis Bulgaria	Copper (cathodes, LME)	Pirdop	EDIFACT + OFTP2
Lukoil Neftohim	Refining / petrochemicals	Burgas	EDIFACT + AS2
Stomana Industry	Steel (sections)	Pernik	EDIFACT + OFTP2
Solvay Sodi	Soda ash	Devnya	EDIFACT + AS2

Adoption — export flows and long chains

Export orientation. These sites sell mostly outside Bulgaria; their EDI flows are cross-border (EU and non-EU), with customs particulars and incoterms.
SAP everywhere. Large accounts use SAP; IDoc flows are mapped to EDIFACT by EDI middleware.
OFTP2 inherited from automotive. Metals and components sectors adopt OFTP2/ENX, imported from carmaker practices.
2026 EUR switch. Long-term contracts and DELFOR are reconverted; indexed price formulas (LME/Platts) stay in USD but domestic invoicing moves to EUR.

Common pitfalls

Units of measure. Industrial volumes are in tonnes (TNE), m³ or litres; a wrong UN/ECE R20 code distorts quantities.
Price formula vs fixed price. On quoted commodities, forcing a fixed price instead of a quotation reference creates invoicing discrepancies.
Mis-configured OFTP2. Expired certificates, EERP not returned: the flow looks "sent" but is never acknowledged on the partner side.
USD vs EUR currency. Quotations stay in USD; confusing the quotation currency and the invoicing currency (EUR since 2026) causes conversion errors.
Missing customs particulars. For non-EU export, an INVOIC without EORI / incoterm / country of origin blocks customs clearance.

Foundations

Standards

Flagship messages

Tools