Trafigura puts Auby zinc smelter on care and maintenance

“Challenging market conditions” have forced Trafigura to put its Auby smelter in France on care and maintenance.

Netherlands-based Nyrstar, which is majority owned by Trafigura, reported the closure on Dec. 6, but did not elaborate on the decision or disclose when the smelter might restart.

The facility, located in the town of Auby, 35 km south of the city of Lille, is a mid-scale electrolytic zinc smelter producing cathodes as finished products, rather than casting into ingots.

Feedstock of both zinc concentrates and zinc secondaries is consumed at the plant using the roast-leach-electrolysis (RLE) process to produce zinc cathode.

The plant also has developed an indium metal refining process.

In a research note, BMO Capital Markets pointed out that the 165,000-tonne-per-year plant operated “at a reduced capacity for most of this year.”

The decision on Auby, BMO noted, “follows Trafigura’s announcement in mid-November to restart its Budel smelter (290ktpa capacity) in the Netherlands on a limited basis.”

“This comes as annual benchmark treatment charge negotiations get underway, which we expect to materially increase on the 2022 contract.”