The Pirdop plant has received a total investment of 400 million euros ($429 million), including 120 million euros for the expansion of the tankhouse, the final stage of the copper smelting process.
The expansion is expected to be completed by late 2026.
Pildop then seeks to fully refine all the metals it produces without having to send the first stage of produced metals, called anodes, to Orbis' main smelter network in Germany and Belgium for final refining. said Herlings.
“This is a positive development for Europe’s industrial capacity, as it means that the group’s cathode production capacity will increase by approximately 110,000 tonnes, reducing the need for European copper imports.”
Additional metal will be sold to the public in Europe, where demand is expected to continue to grow due to major trends such as renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Orbis is also planning a comprehensive modernization of its Pirdop smelter during a major maintenance outage planned for 2025, and is building more solar power facilities at the site.
Herlings said costs related to metal theft at the Hamburg site should no longer weigh on the company's bottom line.
On February 6, Orbis reported that its revenue was again partially hit by high costs due to the impact of metal theft in Hamburg.
“We are confident that the material impact of the criminal conduct on Orbis' performance has ended,” Herlings said. “We are also confident that with good production levels and solid demand, Orbis will achieve strong results this year.”
“We remain hopeful of achieving our target of pre-tax profit of 380 million to 480 million euros this year.”
(1 dollar = 0.9323 euro)
(Written by Michael Hogan; Edited by Tomasz Janowski)
