Nyrstar's Port Pirie lead smelter ramps up production (updated)

Nyrstar NV

28/12/2022 13:31

(Adds detail, background and Stolberg)
       LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Nyrstar's Port Pirie lead
smelter in Australia is ramping up production after completion
of a project to improve efficiency, the Netherlands-based
company said on Wednesday.
    The Port Pirie smelter was shut in October for work to
reduce emissions and improve operational performance.
    Nyrstar, majority owned by trading and logistics company
Trafigura, declined to say how much lead Port Pirie produces.
The plant produced 160,000 tonnes of lead in 2018.
    Global lead consumption is estimated by analysts at about 13
million tonnes this year.
    Germany's Stolberg lead plant, which is in the process of
being purchased by Trafigura and will be managed by Nystar, was
closed for repair work after flood damage in 2021 but has not
reopened because the sale has not been completed, Nyrstar said.
    Stolberg produces about 155,000 tonnes of lead annually.
    "We currently do not have an update on when we expect to
receive the relevant regulatory approvals," the company said.
    Lead prices  CMPB33  on the London Metal Exchange (LME) hit
$2,302.5 a tonne on Wednesday, the highest since May 5, on
worries about supplies and inventories at 15-year lows in
LME-registered warehouses  MPBSTX-TOTAL .
 (Reporting by Pratima Desai
Editing by Kirsten Donovan and David Goodman
)
 ((pratima.desai@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 513 5681;))