GROUP STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Aurubis AG is one of the world’s leading integrated copper groups with key expertise in copper production, metal recycling and copper product fabrication. The production of precious metals and specialty products completes our range of services. Aurubis is therefore represented in the main segments of the copper value chain.
The Group sites are concentrated in Western Europe with larger production centers in Germany, Belgium and Bulgaria. Outside of Europe, Aurubis has a production site in the US and a far-reaching sales and service network.
Some 6,600 employees work for Aurubis worldwide.
BUSINESS MODEL JOINS COPPER PRODUCTION, RECYCLING AND PROCESSING
Copper production, recycling and processing are closely linked in the Aurubis Group’s business model. Aurubis therefore has high efficiency potential and flexibility in managing raw material procurement, production and sales as well as a strong market orientation.
The Group’s raw material supply is based on two pillars and is therefore well suited to utilizing market opportunities and absorbing supply risks. The main input material for copper production is copper concentrates, which are extracted from ores in countries outside of Europe in particular and then purchased. The second raw material base is made up of inter- mediate products as well as copper scrap and other recycling
Geographic presence: Business Unit (BU) production sites in Europe and the USA
BU Primary Copper Hamburg, D Pirdop, BG Olen, B Röthenbach, D BU Recycling/Precious Metals Lünen, D Hamburg, D Fehrbellin, D BU Copper Products Hamburg, D Olen, B Emmerich, D Avellino, I Stolberg, D Buffalo, USA Pori, FIN Finspång, S (until 2013) Zutphen, NL Mortara, I Smethwick, GB Dolný Kubín, SK
Business model: integrating copper production and processing materials, most of which are sourced in Europe. Special facili- ties are used to process metal production residues, precious metal-bearing raw materials and electronic scrap.
Aurubis’ product portfolio includes standard and specialty products made of copper and copper alloys as well as other metals. The annual output of copper cathodes in the Group is over 1.1 million t, making Aurubis one of the largest producers of this product worldwide. Copper cathodes from Aurubis are a registered trademark on the London Metal Exchange and can be marketed there or sold to trade and industry. In the Group, however, they are first and foremost the starting prod- uct for fabricating copper products, so Aurubis guarantees its customers a high level of delivery security.
Continuous cast wire rod dominates Aurubis’ portfolio in the processing stage. With its consistently high electrical conduc- tivity, it is extremely effective in converting and transmitting electricity and is used by customers producing cable, trans- formers, generators and motors. Another product group is continuous cast shapes, which are used to fabricate strip, foil, sheet, tube and profiles. Rolled products, such as precision strip with very narrow tolerances and flat copper sheet for architectural applications, round off the product portfolio. The existing industrial technology and process control allow Aurubis to extract a number of other accompanying elements contained in the raw materials. We are therefore in a position to utilize a broad spectrum of raw materials and thus maintain a good supply position. The elements apart from copper are processed into specialty products, including precious metals, sulfuric acid and iron silicate in particular.
Concentrates
Sulfuric acid Iron silicate
BU PRIMARY COPPER BU COPPER PRODUCTS
Shapes Pre-rolled strip Strip Copper production Copper processing Mines and
recycling markets
Customer markets
GROUP STRUCTURE: THREE OPERATING BUSINESS UNITS WITH CENTRAL MANAGEMENT
The Aurubis Group is managed centrally from the corporate and administrative headquarters in Hamburg, where the main production facilities are also located.
The Group structure is oriented towards its underlying busi- ness model: three operating Business Units (BUs) form the organizational framework and provide the reporting basis. Business Unit Primary Copper mainly combines the produc- tion facilities for processing copper concentrates and produc- ing copper cathodes at the Hamburg and Pirdop sites as well as copper production at the Olen site. It also includes the production and marketing of sulfuric acid, selenium and iron silicate.
Business Unit Recycling/Precious Metals comprises the recycling activities in the Group and is responsible for the produc tion of precious metals. The BU includes the recycling center in Lünen and the secondary smelter and precious metal production facilities in Hamburg. Companies and investments in connected business areas complete the portfolio.
Business Unit Copper Products consists of the production and marketing of products from the copper product sectors wire rod, continuous cast shapes, rolled products and special- ty products. From an organizational perspective, BU Copper Products is divided into Business Line (BL) Rod & Shapes, BL Flat Rolled Products, BL Bars & Profiles and BL Marketing Cathodes. The holding in Schwermetall GmbH & Co. KG is also part of this BU.
Organizational structure: three operating Business Units with central management
Group Executive Board
CORPORATE FUNCTIONS
BUSINESS UNITS BUSINESS UNITS
Primary Copper
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Processing copper concentrates»
Producing copper cathodes for sale on themetal exchanges
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Producing and marketing sulfuric acid, selenium, iron silicate and other specialty productsRecycling/Precious Metals
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Processing recycling raw materials»
Producing copper cathodes for sale on themetal exchanges
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Producing precious metals and by-productsCopper Products
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Further processing copper cathodes»
Marketing copper cathodes»
Producing wire rod, shapes, pre-rolled strip, rolled and specialty productsThe significant production sites in Europe are Hamburg, Stolberg and Emmerich (Germany), Olen (Belgium), Zutphen (Netherlands), Finspång (Sweden, until 2013), Pori (Finland) and Avellino (Italy). Outside of Europe, Aurubis produces strip made of copper and copper alloys in Buffalo (USA). Service centers in the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Italy and the Nether- lands and a global sales and distribution network complete the BU’s performance profile.
Cross-group sectors support the operating divisions with their service and administrative functions.
A list of investments is provided in the notes to the financial statements.
LEGAL STRUCTURE OF THE GROUP AND MAIN STEPS IN ITS DEVELOPMENT
Aurubis AG was founded in Hamburg in 1866 under the name Norddeutsche Affinerie AG and was renamed as Aurubis AG as a result of a resolution passed at the Company’s Annual General Meeting on February 26, 2009. Following various changes in the ownership structure, an IPO was carried out in 1998. Aurubis has been represented in the MDAX and in the Prime Standard of the German Stock Exchange since 2003.
The Group has grown in the past several years as a result of acquisitions and now has a broad corporate base:
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On December 31, 1999, the majority interest was acquired in Hüttenwerke Kayser AG, a company that had special- ized in copper recycling, which was amalgamated with the former Norddeutsche Affinerie AG on October 1, 2003. The Lünen site is the Group’s recycling center.»
With the acquisition of Prymetall GmbH & Co. KG (now called Aurubis Stolberg GmbH & Co. KG) and its 50 % holding in Schwermetall Halbzeugwerk GmbH & Co. KG (Schwermetall Halbzeugwerk), Stolberg, in fiscal year 2001/02, Aurubis positioned itself further along the value chain.»
Aurubis took over the competitor Cumerio in fiscal year 2007/08, thus taking the first step toward internation- alizing the Group. The Company’s business model also comprised copper production and processing.»
The acquisition of the Luvata Group’s Rolled ProductsDivision on September 1, 2011 strengthened and expand- ed the rolled product sector (Business Line Flat Rolled Products), further globalizing the product business. This business line is currently being restructured.