Befesa remains profitable, increases revenue in 2024

Befesa S.A. is reporting a 5 percent increase in global revenue in 2024 compared with the year before, while its net income declined by 12.4 percent year on year.

The Luxembourg-based firm says its more than $1.2 billion in revenue included a “strong performance” in its steel furnace dust and aluminum salt slags recycling segments. About two-thirds of its revenue came from the steel mill servicing sector with the rest tied to its aluminum production byproducts operations.

Plants in Befesa's Steel Dust segment ran at high-capacity utilization levels in 2024, averaging a 92 percent rate in Europe but closer to 70 percent in the United States.

“Operations in China continued at reduced utilization levels of around 50 percent and achieved breakeven [earnings] for the year, reflecting the ongoing challenges in the Chinese market,” Befesa says.

The company says its electric arc furnace (EAF) steel dust throughput globally surpassed 1.2 million metric tons in 2024, rising about 1.3 percent from the 2023 volume.

Befesa produces recycled-content zinc as a result of its EAF dust process.

London Metal Exchange (LME) zinc prices in 2024 averaged about $2,690 per metric ton, which Befesa frames as a “positive development.” The 2024 average zinc price was nearly 5 percent higher compared with the 2023 average price.

Regarding the recycled-content aluminum Befesa creates, the LME aluminum alloy price averaged 5.4 percent higher in 2024 compared with the prior year, and the company handled more than 20 percent more aluminum salt slag last year compared with 2023.

“This robust performance was achieved despite challenging macroeconomic conditions in the steel sector and automotive industry worldwide,” Befesa says, adding that it experienced a compressed pricing margin situation in its secondary aluminum business last year.

“Our strong performance in 2024 demonstrates not only the resilience of our business model but also our commitment to delivery,” Befesa CEO Asier Zarraonandia says, pointing to 17 percent full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) growth as a reflection of both the success of its operational initiatives and its "disciplined execution of strategic projects.”

“We are very confident about the outlook for 2025, which is underpinned by higher zinc hedges, steel dust volume growth in the U.S., and continuing operational improvements in our zinc refining plant," he says. "This will result in another strong year.”

The company expects strong double-digit EBITDA growth in 2025.

“Given current market conditions, Befesa continues to pause its expansion plans in China until further notice, allowing the company to focus resources on more immediate growth opportunities in other core markets,” the firm says.