Stolberg lead plant to reopen when sale to Nyrstar approved

Nyrstar NV

11/08/2022 16:19

HAMBURG, Aug 11 (Reuters) - German lead plant Stolberg, also
known as Berzelius Stolberg, will reopen when its sale has been
approved and when it is technically ready, its prospective owner
Nyrstar  NYR.BR  said on Thursday.
    The plant, in the west of Germany, was sold to commodities
group Trafigura in July and will be operated and managed by
Trafigura Group unit Nyrstar.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2YN0TX 
    Stolberg has been undergoing repairs since major flood
damage in July 2021. Trafigura had said in July the restoration
programme was scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of
2022.
    Asked by Reuters when the plant will reopen, Nyrstar said:
“We plan to restart the facility when the plant is technically
ready, when all necessary feedstock and support materials are
available and when all closing conditions and receipt of
regulatory approvals to transfer the assets have been obtained.”
    The sale needs approval by the relevant competition
authorities.
    The plant was among several German industrial businesses
damaged by massive flooding in the country's west and south in
summer 2021 and declared force majeure on its contracts.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2OX0RV  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2UJ0BG 
    The Stolberg smelter largely supplies European battery
producers with lead. Stolberg produces 155,000 tonnes of lead
and over 100 different specifications of lead alloys plus
130,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid.
    London Metal Exchange lead  CMPB3  was about $2,177 a tonne
on Thursday, hovering around 2-month highs.

 (Reporting by Pratima Desai and Michael Hogan, editing by Jane
Merriman)
 ((michael.j.hogan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 172 671 36 54;
Reuters Messaging:
michael.hogan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))