Aurubis completes upgrades at Hamburg, Germany, smelter

The planned maintenance shutdown at the Aurubis plant in Hamburg, Germany, was completed June 28, according to a news release from the company, a leading global provider of nonferrous metals and one of the largest copper recyclers worldwide.

The shutdown lasted 56 days, which was 11 days longer than originally planned because of unfavorable weather conditions that delayed certain crane operations because of high winds, the company says. The need for additional work that could only be identified after operations were shut down also led to the longer maintenance time.

Aurubis, which is headquartered in Hamburg, says it performed 480 technical renovations and maintenance measures at the smelter, as well as taking action to improve the site’s environmental protection. The site, which is one of two primary smelters the company operates, also processes scrap. In addition to inspecting the waste heat boiler, Aurubis says it renovated the plant’s highest forge, installed two new metallurgical cranes and replaced heat exchangers in the contact plant – the latter of which was done in preparation for the second expansion stage of industrial heat extraction project to supply up to 20,000 households in Hamburg with CO2-free industrial heat as early as 2024.

Aurubis Chief Operating Officer Heiko Arnold says, “With this shutdown, we have invested a total of 72 million euros ($74.8 million) in the increased effectiveness of our production facilities and the further improvement of the site’s environmental protection--59 million euros ($61.3 million) in just this year.”

The company says that while the longer shutdown will affect earnings, it does not change the current year’s forecast for operating earnings before taxes (EBT), which is expected to be between 500 million euros and 600 million euros, or $519.4 million and $623.3 million.