Aurubis To Shut Down Rolled Copper Production At Swedish Plant

FRANKFURT, Nov 24, 2011 (Dow Jone) -- German copper maker Aurubis AG (NDA.XE) said Thursday it plans to shut down production at its flat-rolled copper plant in Finspang, southern Sweden, by autumn 2013.

Aurubis plans to relocate production volumes to its site in Zutphen, Netherlands and reduce the combined capacity of the two sites to 75,000 metric tons a year from 110,000 tons. The measures will cost less than EUR10 million, a spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Aurubis acquired the Finspang plant in September through the purchase of the rolled products division of Finland's Luvata Group.

"Finspang has not generated any profit during the past years due to the decline in its markets and the structural overcapacity in the rolled products industry," Aurubis said in a press release.

Some production volume may be transferred to Aurubis' site in Buffalo in the U.S. The planned move will enable the company to improve economies of scale and reduce currency risks, it said.