Granges increases recycled content in 2023

While Swedish company Granges’ global sales volume was down slightly in the fourth quarter of 2023 and by roughly 3 percent for the year, CEO Jörgen Rosengren says the year was the company’s best yet. “The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to a record year for Gränges despite muted demand. Good growth in Eurasia and in Automotive was offset by lower volumes in Americas and HVAC, mainly driven by downstream off-season destocking.”

According to the company, its sales volume decreased by 2.4 percent to 107,700 metric tons, and net sales decreased to 4.967 billion Swedish krona ($474.5 million) for the quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2023. Adjusted operating profit increased to 245 million Swedish kronor ($23.4 million), while diluted earnings per share increased to 1.01 Swedish kronor, or 9.6 cents.

The company says its total carbon emissions intensity (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) decreased to 8.5 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per metric ton of aluminum during the quarter, while its recycled aluminum consumption increased to 43.6 percent.

Full the full year, Granges says its sales volume decreased by 3.4 percent to 463,200 metric tons, and net sales decreased to 22.518 billion Swedish kronor ($2.151 billion). However, adjusted operating profit increased to 1.536 billion Swedish kronor ($146.7 million), while diluted earnings per share increased to 9.48 Swedish kronor, or 91 cents.

The company says its total carbon emissions intensity decreased to 8.4 metric tons per CO2 equivalent per metric ton, and its use of recycled aluminum grew to 41.6 percent.

Full-year adjusted operating profit rose to an all-time high of 1.5 billion Swedish kronor.

Rosengren says 2023 was a record year in many aspects because the company executed well on its sustainable growth plan, Navigate. “Our systematic work on productivity and price was helped not the least by our recently completed recycling and casting center in Huntingdon [Tennessee].

“We continued our long-term work to build an industry-leading company,” he continues. “Inventory management again delivered good cash flow, significantly strengthening our balance sheet. This in turn contributed to a strong development of our return on capital and helped us achieve our best-ever net profit and earnings per share. We also made our workplace safer for all colleagues by an ambitious risk-reduction program. Innovation and new business development continued, resulting in good growth in battery cooling plates and other new niches.”

Rosengren says sustainability is an area of primary focus in Navigate. “We grew our recycling in all regions, thanks to hard work, new partnerships and new capabilities. Our 2023 recycling rate increased to an impressive 42 percent, our best level ever,” he adds. “We contracted renewable electricity in both Asia and Americas, in addition to existing contracts in Europe. Our carbon emissions intensity decreased to record-low levels, well in line with our long-term plans. These are important steps on our journey toward net zero in 2040, a goal recently validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Our sustainability work received an EcoVadis Platinum rating for the third time in a row, putting us in the top 1 percent of our industry.”

The company’s sustainable growth investments include a second recycling and casting center in the Americas and a new joint venture in China for recycling and green aluminum produced using hydropower, Rosengren adds.” Our investment in battery foil manufacturing in all three regions progressed as planned and attracts strong customer interest.”

While he says market demand remains difficult to predict, it is expected to remain weak in the first quarter of the year. “We expect slightly lower sales volume compared with the first quarter [of] 2023, especially in [the] Americas. Our aim for 2024 is to offset increased price pressure and continued wage inflation with increased market share and cost productivity.”

In the year ahead, Rosengren says Granges goal is to remain focused on the long term while flexibly meeting any short-term challenges. “We have the right strategy.”

Granges is a global supplier of rolled aluminum products for thermal management systems, speciality packaging and selected niche applications. The company's customers are in the automotive, HVAC and speciality packaging industries as well as in other niche markets, such as transformers and wind turbines. In materials for brazed heat exchangers. Granges' market share is approximately 25 percent.

The company says it has total production capacity for rolled aluminum products of about 560,000 metric tons, split across six production sites on three continents.

In Europe, Gränges has two production sites, one in Finspång in Sweden with a production capacity of 100,000 metric tons, and one in Konin in Poland that also has 100,000 metric tons of production capacity.

In Asia, the company has production site in Shanghai with 120,000 metric tons of capacity. 

In the Americas, Granges has three production sites in the U.S. in Huntingdon; Salisbury, North Carolina; and Newport, Arkansas, with a combined capacity of 240,000 metric tons.

The company's wholly owned subsidiary, Gränges Powder Metallurgy GmbH, produces aluminum billets using spray-forming technology, with production sites in St. Avold in France and Velbert in Germany that have an annual production capacity of about 2,500 metric tons.