Aurubis sees slight decline in earnings

Aurubis AG, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, says it generated operating earnings before taxes (EBT) of 406 million euros ($446.7 million) for the first nine months of its 2022/23 fiscal year, which compares with adjusted EBT of 426 million euros ($468.7 million) in the comparable period for the previous year. This is nearly on par with the successful 2021/22 fiscal year. In the current year’s third quarter, which ended June 30, Aurubis generated roughly 20 percent more in operating EBT at 115 million euros ($126.5 million), up from 95 million euros ($104.5 million) of adjusted EBT in the previous year, the company says.

Aurubis says it saw considerably increased treatment and refining charges for concentrates, a significantly higher Aurubis copper premium, very high demand for wire rod at increased prices and greater earnings from refining charges given an upturn in the input of recycling materials. These positive effects counterbalanced a significant drop in sulfuric acid revenues, a lower metal result, decreased demand for flat-rolled products and costs driven up by inflation. Higher costs for the company’s growth strategy also played a role.

In addition to the factors already mentioned, lower energy costs arising from a drop in gas and electricity prices coupled with active energy management had a positive impact on the result in Q3 2022/23. An insurance payout of around 15 million euros ($16.5 million) related to the flooding at the Stolberg, Germany, site in July 2021 contributed to the improvement in the result from the previous year, the company says.

Aurubis CEO Roland Harings says, “Sustained high demand drivers, like the mobility and energy transitions, paired with excellent plant availability led to high wire rod revenues in the third quarter, as well. We continue to closely follow economic developments in Europe, which predict a drop in activity in key industries. And our focus remains on safeguarding our international competitiveness by further lowering our energy costs through active energy management. This is also contingent on consistently competitive energy prices for industry, especially in Germany.”

Aurubis has confirmed its forecast range for fiscal year 2022/23 with a projected operating EBT of between 450 million euros ($495.1 million) and 550 million euros ($605.2 million).

Revenue in the reporting period amounted to 12,951 million euros ($14,249.7 million) compared with 14,277 million euros ($15,709 million) in the comparable period in the previous year.

In the first nine months of 2022/23, Aurubis achieved net cash flow of 73 million euros ($80.3 million), which is more than the previous year’s 11 million euros ($12.1 million) despite continued high inventories, Aurubis says.

Adding hydrogen-enabled furnaces

Prior to releasing its financial results, Aurubis, which says it already produces copper with less than half the average global carbon footprint, announced that it was investing 40 million euros ($44 million) in hydrogen-capable anode furnaces in its Hamburg plant. The company says the technology could save 5,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.

The company says the Hamburg plant will be one of the first copper smelters in the world to use hydrogen instead of natural gas for the reduction process in its anode furnaces.

The conversion in the Hamburg plant will be carried out as part of the plant’s routine maintenance shutdown slated for spring 2024 and also will improve process flexibility, the company says. Compared with the current equipment, the new furnace technology enables the processing of more complex metal-bearing copper concentrates, helping Aurubis extract additional valuable raw materials even more efficiently.

“By replacing the anode furnaces, we are achieving another milestone in our decarbonization strategy,” Harings says. “For now, there is still barely enough green hydrogen to cover German industry’s huge demand at competitive prices. With this step, we’re leading the way and showing that we’re prepared!”

Even before enough hydrogen comes on the market, the new anode furnaces will help to further decarbonize Aurubis’ production as they work more efficiently and consume about 30 percent less natural gas, for a potential savings of nearly 1,200 metric tons of CO2 per year, the company says.

In May 2021, a pilot project at the Hamburg plant produced copper anodes using hydrogen instead of natural gas.