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Aurubis: Europe's Copper Giant and the Circular Economy Pioneer
Introduction: The Red Metal That Powers the Future
Picture a monsoon afternoon in Hamburg's industrial waterfront, where smoke rises from a copper smelter that has operated in some form since the late eighteenth century. Inside the sprawling complex on the island of Peute, furnaces roar at temperatures exceeding 1,200°C, transforming electronic waste from discarded smartphones into pristine copper cathodes with 99.99% purity. This is Aurubis AG—a company whose roots stretch back 255 years to a single silver-separation furnace on the banks of the Elbe River.
The share price of Aurubis AG as of November 27, 2025 is €112.60 per share. The market cap of Aurubis AG as of November 27, 2025 is approximately €4.92 billion. The company's trailing twelve month revenue stands at approximately $19.49 billion USD. These numbers position Aurubis as one of Europe's most significant industrial companies—yet it remains remarkably obscure outside the commodities world.
Aurubis AG (formerly Norddeutsche Affinerie AG) is a global supplier of non-ferrous metals and one of the world's largest copper recyclers. The company processes complex metal concentrates, scrap, organic and inorganic metal-bearing recycling materials, and industrial residues into metals.
The central question of Aurubis's story is this: How did a 250-year-old precious metals smelter from Hamburg become the most important copper company in Europe and a leader in the circular economy? The answer involves a technological breakthrough that revolutionized an entire industry, strategic M&A that consolidated European copper production, a dramatic corporate crisis that nearly destroyed the company's reputation, and now a bold bet on America's metal recycling future.
Copper matters more today than perhaps at any point since the invention of electrical wiring. Electrification is expected to increase annual copper demand from about 25 million tons now to 36.6 million tons by 2031, with supply then forecast to be around 30.1 million tons, creating a 6.5 million ton shortfall at the start of the next decade. Electric vehicles, data centers, renewable energy infrastructure, and AI-driven power demands are all copper-intensive technologies. The clean energy sector currently consumes 25% of global copper demand, and this figure is projected to move higher to 61% by 2040, given our growing reliance on wind, solar and electric vehicles.
Aurubis sits at the nexus of this megatrend—not as a miner extracting virgin ore from the earth, but as the processor and recycler that transforms raw materials into usable metal. This positioning creates both opportunities and vulnerabilities that long-term investors must understand.
Origins: Hamburg, Precious Metals, and Early Copper (1770–1866)
The Elbe River has shaped Hamburg's destiny for centuries. In 1770, when the city was still recovering from the devastation of the Seven Years' War, a 36-year-old Jewish-Portuguese entrepreneur named Marcus Salomon Beit stood before Hamburg's Senate with a modest request: permission to operate a small silver and gold smelting furnace on Elbstrasse. Marcus Salomon Beit was granted a permit to operate a "silver separating and smelting furnace" on Elbstrasse in Hamburg, laying the groundwork for what would become Aurubis.
This was the age of fluctuating currencies and volatile metal markets. Hamburg was evolving as Europe's center for silver trading, and Hamburger Bank—the city's main institution for regulating currency exchange—needed reliable access to precious metal smelting. Beit's operation was perfectly positioned to serve this need. His furnace processed coins, precious metal alloys, and whatever metal-bearing materials merchants brought to his door. It was recycling in its most elemental form.
Around 1790, Marcus Salomon's brother Raphael Salomon joined as a business partner. In 1824, Raphael Salomon Beit introduced a wet process for separating gold and silver with the help of sulfuric acid. The new process was called "refining." This new metal extraction process allowed the company to grow into a "combined copper-lead-precious metals smelting plant" in the years that followed. This innovation was significant: the wet refining process enabled higher purity levels and larger throughput than traditional pyrometallurgical methods.
Geography began shaping the business's evolution. From around 1830, Hamburg shipowners began to bring copper ore back from North and South America on the return voyages of their emigrant ships, creating a lucrative market. These vessels carried thousands of German emigrants westward to the New World; on the return journey, empty cargo holds were filled with copper ore from Chile, Peru, and the American West. The Beit smelter found itself with access to feedstock that previous generations could never have imagined.
Then came catastrophe—and opportunity. After the great fire of Hamburg (1842), demand for metals rose again, especially for copper as a non-combustible building material, for example for roofs. The fire destroyed roughly one-third of Hamburg's inner city, killing approximately 50 people and leaving 20,000 homeless. As the city rebuilt, architects and builders turned to copper roofing as a fireproofing measure. Demand surged.
In 1846, the son of Raphael Salomon Beit, Lipmann Raphael, and Hamburg shipowner Johann Cesar Godeffroy joined forces with merchant Siegmund Robinow to found the Elbkupferwerk on the Elbe River island of Steinwerder to process copper ores from overseas. This partnership brought together complementary capabilities: the Beit family's metallurgical expertise and Godeffroy's shipping empire and financial connections. Godeffroy was one of Hamburg's most powerful merchants, with trading operations spanning the Pacific.
Around 1860, the new company accounted for more than 50% of total German copper production with around 3,000 tons per year. For a brief period, this Hamburg partnership dominated German copper.
But success bred complacency, and external forces intervened. From 1857 to 1864/1865, due to collapsing demand, falling metal prices and declining ore returns, the plant's activities were first successively curtailed and finally shut down completely. The global financial panic of 1857 triggered a severe recession, while ore quality from American mines began declining. The Elbkupferwerk's furnaces went cold.
This crisis, paradoxically, set the stage for rebirth. The Beit family's smelter sat idle, but it retained valuable expertise, customer relationships, and physical infrastructure. Someone with capital and vision could revive it. That someone would be a consortium of Hamburg financiers—and the company they created would endure for more than 150 years.
Founding & The Electrolysis Breakthrough (1866–1913)
On April 28, 1866, as Prussian armies prepared for war against Austria, a document was filed in the Hamburg Commercial Register that would prove more consequential than anyone present could have imagined. On April 28, 1866, Norddeutsche Affinerie AG, the predecessor of what is now Aurubis AG, was entered in the Hamburg Commercial Register.
Together with Norddeutsche Bank, a consortium led by Ferdinand Beit founded Norddeutsche Affinerie AG and took over the now closed Beit's main plant. Ferdinand Beit, associated with earlier copper refining operations, chaired the founding board, marking the company's transition to a structured industrial entity amid Germany's industrial expansion.
The timing was fortuitous. Germany's unification in 1871 brought a new gold-based currency to replace the old silver standard. The new German government needed someone to melt down millions of outdated coins, and Norddeutsche Affinerie secured the contract. This work provided both revenue and expertise in handling diverse metal feedstocks—a capability that would prove valuable for decades.
But the truly pivotal moment came a decade after founding. A pivotal innovation came in 1876, when metallurgist Dr. Emil Wohlwill developed the world's first continuous electrolytic copper refining system at the Affinerie, enabling higher purity levels—up to 99.99%—and scalable production that surpassed pyrometallurgical methods.
To appreciate why this mattered, one must understand the copper refining challenge. Traditional fire refining—heating copper in furnaces and blowing air through it to oxidize impurities—produced metal of perhaps 99.5% purity. For many applications, that was adequate. But the electrical age was dawning, and electrical conductivity is exquisitely sensitive to impurities. A copper wire with 0.5% contamination conducts significantly less current than one with 0.01% contamination. The difference could mean electrical systems that worked versus ones that didn't.
Wohlwill's electrolytic process solved this problem. By immersing impure copper anodes in a copper sulfate solution and passing electrical current through the bath, pure copper atoms migrated from the anode to a cathode, leaving impurities behind as "anode slime." This slime contained valuable precious metals—gold, silver, platinum—which could be recovered separately. The process was elegant: it purified copper while simultaneously extracting valuable byproducts.
Dr. Emil Wohlwill, the company's chief chemical engineer, invented the first fully continuous copper electrolysis system. The word "continuous" was crucial. Earlier electrolytic attempts had been batch processes requiring constant manual intervention. Wohlwill's system could operate around the clock, dramatically reducing labor costs and increasing throughput.
The Wohlwill process became the global standard for copper refining. Competitors had to license the technology or develop inferior alternatives. For Norddeutsche Affinerie, this represented a technological moat that persisted for decades—the kind of defensible advantage that business strategists dream about.
Due to limited space at the Elbstrasse site, construction started on a new plant on the Elbe River island of Peute. All plants relocated to Peute, and the old main plant on Elbstrasse was subsequently demolished. The move to Peute, completed by 1913, gave the company room to expand and positioned it on Hamburg's industrial waterfront, with direct access to ship transport.
Metallbank in Frankfurt, Metallurgische Gesellschaft, and Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt vormals Roessler AG (Degussa) became major shareholders. These institutional investors brought capital and connections, positioning the company among Germany's leading industrial concerns.
For investors, this early history contains a crucial lesson: Aurubis's competitive advantage was never about owning copper mines or controlling ore deposits. It was about processing expertise—the ability to transform diverse raw materials into high-purity metals more efficiently than anyone else. This business model shapes everything about the company today.
World Wars, Rebuilding & German Industrial Expansion (1913–1998)
The twentieth century tested Norddeutsche Affinerie repeatedly. During World War I, Norddeutsche Affinerie encountered severe raw material shortages due to the British naval blockade, prompting reliance on scrap metal, bronze processing, and public donations such as church bells for copper supply. The war forced the company to become creative about feedstock—a lesson in adaptability that would prove relevant a century later.
The interwar period brought inflation, depression, and political upheaval. After the end of World War I in 1918, the Norddeutsche Affinerie was affected by the transition to a peacetime economy, labor shortages, high inflation and outdated equipment. In 1921, major investments were made in the site. The company survived the hyperinflation of 1923 and the Great Depression of 1929-33, adapting its product mix to changing demand.
The Nazi era brought moral compromises that the company has since acknowledged. From 1940, the Norddeutsche Affinerie was involved in the processing of looted gold that had been extorted from Jewish owners. The company also played a leading role in a so-called metal donation from the German people and, in addition to voluntary donations, also melted down expropriated grave crosses, fountains, monuments and church bells.
During World War II, air attacks severely damaged the plant. Production was largely shut down until the end of the war. The damage caused by an air raid on November 4, 1944 was much more serious, and operations at the Norddeutsche Affinerie did not restart until the end of the war.
Post-war reconstruction mirrored the German Wirtschaftswunder—the economic miracle that transformed West Germany from rubble to prosperity within a generation. The company rebuilt its facilities, modernized equipment, and benefited from surging demand for copper in construction, electrical systems, and consumer goods. The company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1966, having emerged from two world wars battered but operational.
In the late 1970s, a local environmental group conducted measurements in eastern districts of Hamburg and found significantly elevated concentrations of heavy metals in the air. When this secrecy was discovered in 1985, it led to the so-called arsenic scandal in Hamburg. In the years that followed, the company implemented investment programs worth several hundred million German marks to modernize its facilities, which also significantly reduced its environmental impact. This environmental crisis forced substantial investments in emissions controls—expenses that some competitors avoided, but which positioned the company well for tightening regulations in subsequent decades.
In 1988, a joint venture with Chilean copper producer Codelco and HĂĽttenwerke Kayser from LĂĽnen resulted in the founding of Deutsche Giessdraht GmbH in Emmerich on the Rhine River. This partnership represented the company's first significant step beyond pure smelting into downstream copper products.
Going Public & The Acquisition Spree Begins (1998–2008)
After two world wars and decades of internal growth, Norddeutsche Affinerie AG took a step that would accelerate its transformation. Norddeutsche Affinerie AG went public with an issue price of 25 Deutschmarks. The 1998 IPO gave the company access to public equity markets and created a currency for acquisitions.
The strategic logic for consolidation was compelling. Copper smelting and refining is capital-intensive, with high fixed costs and thin margins per ton processed. Scale matters enormously: a larger smelter can spread fixed costs across more output, negotiate better terms with suppliers, and invest in technology that smaller competitors cannot afford. The European copper industry in the late 1990s was fragmented, with numerous mid-sized players that struggled to achieve efficient scale.
In September 1999, the joint venture partner Kayser was fully acquired by Norddeutsche Affinerie. The company anticipated that the debut of the euro coins would cause 100,000 tonnes of copper-based former coinage to be recycled in Germany, and that some of the new coins would use copper as a major part of the Nordic gold alloy. The Kayser acquisition was shrewdly timed: the transition from Deutsche Mark to euro created a massive one-time recycling opportunity as old coins flooded into processing facilities.
Acquisition of HĂĽttenwerke Kayser AG in LĂĽnen, a processor of residues from industrial production containing silver, copper and tin. LĂĽnen became the company's first production site outside Hamburg, establishing a model for geographic diversification that would accelerate.
In 2002, Prymetall, which previously operated a copper pre-rolling plant together with Wieland-Werke in Stolberg, was acquired. Acquisition of Prymetall GmbH & Co. KG, a manufacturer of rolled and drawn products made of copper and copper alloys, along with its 50% stake in Schwermetall Halbzeugwerk GmbH & Co. KG in Stolberg. This acquisition extended the company's reach into copper products, not just refined metal.
Each acquisition built on the last. Kayser brought recycling expertise and industrial residue processing. Prymetall added downstream manufacturing capabilities. The company was evolving from a pure smelter into an integrated copper group.
But the most transformative deal was yet to come.
Inflection Point #1: The Cumerio Acquisition & European Dominance (2008)
In June 2007, Norddeutsche Affinerie announced its intention to acquire Cumerio, a Belgian copper producer that had been spun off from Umicore in 2005. The deal would create Europe's largest copper company—but getting there required navigating competitive bidding, regulatory scrutiny, and market turmoil.
In February 2008, Norddeutsche Affinerie took over more than 91% of the Belgian copper processor Cumerio. In April 2008, the complete takeover of Cumerio for around EUR 777 million was completed by means of a squeeze-out.
The €777 million price tag was substantial for a company of Norddeutsche Affinerie's size, but the strategic rationale was compelling. The smelter in Pirdop (Bulgaria), the refinery in Olen (Belgium), the wire rod production plants at Olen and Avellino (Italy), and the specialty profiles production at Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland) were all incorporated into the Group.
The Bulgarian plant in Pirdop was particularly significant. The copper production plant was built near the town of Pirdop in the period 1955-1958. In April 2005, the Umicore Group's copper production was differentiated into a separate company – Cumerio, listed on the stock exchange in Brussels. In April 2008 the Cumerio Group was acquired by Norddeutsche Affinerie AG after approval. This facility processed copper concentrates from mines across Europe and beyond, giving the combined company a balanced portfolio of primary smelting and recycling.
On 17 December 2008, Cumerio and Norddeutsche Affinerie AG became Aurubis—Europe's biggest copper producer. Aurubis is the largest copper producer in Europe and is the global leader in copper recycling.
The timing coincided with the global financial crisis. The average copper price over the year of $7,785/ton was significantly higher than the prior-year figure of $7,088/ton. Markets were volatile, but the company managed to reduce the credit lines taken up for the Cumerio acquisition using strong cash flow.
Simultaneously, a stabilizing force entered the shareholder register. The participation in Europe's largest copper producer Aurubis AG, which was acquired in 2008, is also grouped within Salzgitter AG's industrial participations. Steel company Salzgitter AG has held a stake in Aurubis since 2009 and is currently the company's largest single shareholder with 29.99% of the voting rights. This anchor shareholder would prove crucial in subsequent years, providing stability through market volatility and corporate crises.
The rebrand captured the transformation: On April 1, 2009, the company was renamed Aurubis AG. The Group was no longer a North German refinery, since it now owned sites in five European countries. The new name combined the Latin words "aurum" (gold) and "rubrum" (red)—a reference to copper's distinctive color and the company's historical precious metals heritage.
Building the Global Smelter Network (2011–2019)
The Cumerio acquisition established Aurubis as Europe's copper champion. The decade that followed focused on optimization, efficiency, and selective expansion.
In 2011, Aurubis completed the acquisition of the former Luvata Rolled Products Division. Acquisition of the rolled products division (RPD) of British Luvata Group: production sites in Buffalo (US), FinspĂĄng (SE), Pori (FI), and Zutphen (NL), and slitting centers in Birmingham (GB), DolnĂ˝ KubĂn (SL), and Mortara (IT). The Buffalo site was the first step towards international expansion outside of Europe.
This acquisition marked Aurubis's first production presence in North America—a beachhead that would prove strategically important more than a decade later.
Following the Cumerio acquisition in 2008, the Aurubis Group took another important step to becoming the world's leading integrated copper producer and processor. The acquisition of the former Rolled Products Division of Luvata, which was announced at the end of April, was concluded in September 2011. Aurubis AG now has over 16 production sites, four service centres and an expanded sales system for copper products, is represented in 22 countries in Europe, North America and Asia and employs about 6,200 employees.
Environmental investment accelerated. Between 2000 and 2021, the company invested a total of around €650 million in environmental protection measures at all its sites, including around €300 million at its Hamburg site. These investments positioned Aurubis as an industry leader in emissions reduction—a credential increasingly valued by customers, regulators, and ESG-focused investors.
The company's production capabilities reached impressive scale. Aurubis now processes approximately 2.4 million tons of copper concentrates and around 1 million tons of recycling materials and blister copper annually. Annual copper cathode production exceeds 1 million tons at 99.99% purity across the European smelter network.
Inflection Point #2: The Metallo Acquisition & Multimetal Strategy (2020)
The Cumerio deal made Aurubis Europe's largest copper producer. The 2020 Metallo acquisition solidified its position as the world's largest copper recycler and set the stage for expansion into multiple metals beyond copper.
Aurubis AG acquired the recycling company Metallo. This marked the formal closing of the transaction, which was effective May 29, 2020. Metallo was fully consolidated into the Aurubis Group starting June 1.
The purchase price for the transaction amounted to €380 million and was financed with borrowed capital.
With the Metallo acquisition, the Aurubis Group gained another company in Belgium (Beerse with about 450 employees) in addition to Olen, as well as a company in Spain for the first time (Berango in the province of Biscay with about 90 employees).
Metallo Belgium, based in Beerse, was founded in 1919. In the 1960s, the company developed processes to recycle copper, tin, and lead from raw materials with low metal contents and promoted innovations to invest in sustainable technologies in order to strengthen its "zero-waste" strategy.
The deal faced intensive regulatory scrutiny. This was the second proposed merger in the copper sector in the last two years involving Aurubis that the Commission closely investigated. In February of last year, the Commission prohibited Wieland's proposed acquisition of Aurubis' rolled copper products business, as the Commission concluded that the merger would have created a dominant player. While Wieland/Aurubis concerned rolled copper products, Aurubis/Metallo concerned a separate market—the market for copper refining and recycling.
The EU competition authorities issued their unconditional approval of the acquisition on May 4, 2020 after an extensive review.
CEO Roland Harings emphasized: "This acquisition represents an important step in the implementation of our multimetal strategy."
The "multimetal strategy" phrase is crucial. Metallo specialized in processing recycling materials with low metal contents—materials that contained copper but also significant quantities of tin, lead, nickel, and zinc. Metallo specializes in processing recycling materials with low metal contents, with a focus on tin, lead, nickel, zinc, and copper. They have a 'zero waste' approach—even as the compositions of the input materials become increasingly complex.
Aurubis was no longer just a copper company. It was positioning itself as a diversified metals processor capable of extracting value from increasingly complex waste streams—precisely the streams that electronics recycling and urban mining were generating.
Inflection Point #3: US Expansion & The Richmond Plant (2021–2025)
For over a century, Aurubis was essentially a European company with a small presence in Buffalo, New York. The Richmond plant changed that equation dramatically.
First secondary smelter for multimetal recycling in the United States to be built in Augusta (Richmond County), Georgia. Construction started in summer 2022, commissioning planned for first half of 2024. Aurubis invested about €300 million initially; capacity for processing up to 90,000 tons of complex recycling materials.
The project ultimately grew larger than initially announced. With an investment of about $800 million, Aurubis is creating more than 240 jobs in Georgia. The plant will process up to 180,000 tons of complex recycling material annually—with the expansion stage starting in 2026—including printed circuit boards, copper cable, and other metal-bearing products.
On September 24, 2025, Aurubis fired up the largest and most technologically advanced secondary smelter ever built in the US.
With the ramp-up of its new US site Aurubis Richmond, the company will be producing key strategic metals such as copper, nickel, tin and precious metals in the state of Georgia. These are crucial for the future of the American economy and are essential for expanding data centers and AI applications, and for energy infrastructure, high-tech products, and the defense industry.
The strategic rationale centered on America's growing need for domestic metal production. The United States currently faces significant challenges in securing adequate copper supplies. With domestic demand reaching approximately 1.8 million tons annually and roughly 50% of this copper being imported from international sources, the country remains vulnerable to supply disruptions and price volatility.
The demand for strategic metals such as copper is rising steadily worldwide—American industry alone currently needs about 1.8 million tons of copper per year—and experts estimate that demand will rise nearly 30 percent in the next 5 years. As of now, the US imports about half of the copper it processes.
"With Aurubis Richmond, we are the frontrunner in multimetal recycling and processing in the US," said Dr. Toralf Haag.
Production will include 70,000 tons of high-grade blister copper with purity of 98-99%, along with nickel, tin and precious metals. The plant will reduce the need for US metal imports, with production expected to reach full capacity in the first half of 2026.
"The commissioning of our facility in Richmond marks a milestone in Aurubis' growth journey. We are first movers and have built the first greenfield smelter in the US in over a century. Our timely entry into the US market and our unique set of capabilities coupled with a supportive funding environment are a strong foundation for further growth in one of the most attractive metal markets in the world."
The Richmond investment represents Aurubis's largest single capital commitment outside Europe. It positions the company to capture growth in the American recycling market while providing geographic diversification that reduces dependence on European operations.
The 2023 Crisis: Theft Scandal & Management Overhaul
In mid-2023, Aurubis faced a crisis that tested its governance, reputation, and operational integrity. The episode serves as a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities inherent in processing high-value materials—and the importance of internal controls in commodity businesses.
Aurubis AG revealed it had uncovered a large-scale fraud involving shipments of scrap metal that it uses to feed its copper smelters, with potential losses running into hundreds of millions of euros. The announcement sent the Hamburg-based company's shares plunging, and delivered a fresh blow to confidence in the global metals industry after a string of high-profile scandals.
The company was hit by two different and possibly connected crimes, one a few months ago involving the theft of precious metals residues, and then the shock revelation that it had been paying for scrap material that didn't contain the metal it was supposed to. A spokesperson for Aurubis said it was investigating a sophisticated criminal operation involving both external suppliers and complicit employees at its main smelter in Hamburg.
Aurubis announced the results of the extraordinary inventory that was carried out on August 31, 2023 in the aftermath of the theft and fraud cases. According to the results, the value of the precious metal shortage, which negatively impacted operating earnings before taxes, amounted to €185 million.
"It is now clear that shipments and samples of input materials in the recycling area with high contents of valuable metals were manipulated to Aurubis' detriment. The shipments did not contain the metals in the amounts expected based on the manipulated samples, and inflated invoices were paid as a result. It was apparently possible to manipulate these input materials despite the high security standards, customary for the industry, in place at Aurubis."
"My memory of this industry goes back quite a long way, and I can't recall any similar incidents on this kind of scale," said Michael Lion, who has been involved in the recycling industry for more than 50 years. "The very substantial sums of money involved suggest that this was an extremely well-organized operation that could well have involved a web of conspiring suppliers."
Adding tragedy to crisis, in May 2023, a serious industrial accident occurred at Aurubis's primary copper smelter plant in Hamburg. Following a nitrogen leak during regular maintenance, three fatalities were reported.
A nitrogen leak occurred while the three employees were conducting regular maintenance on the Primary Smelter Plant East, a central part of metal production in Hamburg. Rescue workers and the Plant Fire Department were immediately deployed.
These events—financial fraud and workplace fatalities—combined to create an existential challenge for management.
The Supervisory Board agreed with CEO Roland Harings, CFO Rainer Verhoeven, and COO Custom Smelting & Products Dr. Heiko Arnold to prematurely terminate their current Executive Board contracts. The three Executive Board members were thus taking accountability for the unique challenges Aurubis faced in the past fiscal year, in particular in light of the serious cases of fraud and theft at the Hamburg plant and incidents in occupational safety.
The Aurubis AG Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Toralf Haag (58) as new Chief Executive Officer and Tim Kurth (56) as new Chief Operations Officer for custom smelting—effective September 1, 2024. This completed the restructuring of the Aurubis Executive Board announced in January 2024.
Dr. Haag brought an unusual credential to his new role. From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Haag served as Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Management Board at Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (now Aurubis AG) in Hamburg. He joined the Executive Board of the Voith Group in October 2016, where he served as acting CEO since October 2018. The Supervisory Board recruited someone who knew the company intimately from prior service but brought fresh perspective from years leading another major German industrial company.
"With Toralf Haag, we have succeeded in winning a proven industry expert over to Aurubis who will lead the company with great strategic vision. He is already very familiar with the company and its markets from his time as Aurubis CFO," Aurubis AG Supervisory Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt commented.
For investors, the scandal raised uncomfortable questions about internal controls in commodity processing. When materials worth hundreds of millions flow through a facility, sophisticated actors will attempt theft and fraud. The question isn't whether controls can prevent all losses—they cannot—but whether governance systems can detect problems early and respond appropriately. Aurubis's new leadership has made strengthening these systems a top priority.
The Recovery & Current Strategic Position (2024–2025)
Under Dr. Haag's leadership, Aurubis has moved swiftly to restore confidence and execute its strategic agenda.
Aurubis AG closed out the 2023/24 fiscal year with robust full-year results. Aurubis increased operating earnings before taxes (EBT) to €413 million (previous year: €349 million) with continued robust net cash flow of €537 million and slightly improved ROCE to 11.5%.
By the end of Q1 2024/25, around €1.67 billion of the €1.7 billion total investment approved for strategic projects had been invested. Aurubis achieved robust operating earnings before taxes (EBT) of €130 million in the first three months of fiscal year 2024/25.
Aurubis AG achieved robust operating earnings before taxes (EBT) of €286 million in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024/25. More than 70% of the €1.7 billion earmarked for strategic projects had been invested by the end of Q3 2024/25. These strategic projects are expected to generate an additional annual EBITDA contribution of around €260 million in the future.
Aurubis received the 17th German Sustainability Award in the Metal Sector category. The most comprehensive award of its kind in Europe recognized Aurubis' pioneering role in sustainability while honoring the multimetal company for its activities in carbon-neutral and circular metal production.
Thanks to its many targeted measures, Aurubis has succeeded in reducing the carbon footprint of its copper cathodes, the standard product in the copper industry, by over 40% in the past 11 years. This means they have less than 60% of the global average CO2 footprint for copper cathodes.
The revised strategy—"Performance 2030: Forging resilience. Leading in multimetal"—will guide the company in the coming years and enable it to expand its leading market position.
Supported by megatrends, the company's expertise in processing complex raw materials, ongoing multimetal portfolio expansion, and focus on operational excellence are set to drive sustained earnings growth, stronger cash flow, and attractive returns for shareholders.
Business Model Deep Dive
Understanding Aurubis requires grasping a business model fundamentally different from mining companies or manufacturing firms.
Two-Segment Structure: Aurubis has two segments: Multimetal Recycling and Custom Smelting & Products, which is the key revenue generating segment.
The Custom Smelting & Products segment processes copper concentrates from mines worldwide, charging treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for converting ore into pure copper. These charges fluctuate based on supply and demand for smelting capacity versus concentrate availability.
The Multimetal Recycling segment processes scrap copper, electronic waste, and industrial residues. This segment benefits from rising volumes of recyclable material and Aurubis's ability to extract value from complex feedstocks that competitors cannot process efficiently.
The Product Portfolio: Aurubis produces copper, using raw materials which include copper concentrates and recycling materials. The company also produces precious metals such as gold and silver and a range of other products, including sulfuric acid and iron silicate, as byproducts of copper production. Revenue is predominantly generated through the sale of continuous cast wire rods, copper cathodes, precious metals and continuous cast shapes, used in the manufacture of cables and wires which are used in electrical applications.
Aurubis produces a variety of copper products, such as wire rods, continuous cast shapes, profiles, and flat rolled products. Aurubis also produces a range of other metals, including precious metals such as selenium, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc. The portfolio includes other products, such as sulfuric acid and iron silicate.
The Smelter Network: Plants are located in Belgium (Beerse, Olen), Bulgaria (Pirdop), Germany (Emmerich, Hamburg, Lünen, Röthenbach, Stolberg), Italy (Avellino), Finland (Pori), Spain (Berango), and the US (Richmond).
Annual processing volume of approximately 2.4 million tons of copper concentrates and around 1 million tons of recycling materials and blister copper. Annual output of about 1.1 million tons of copper cathodes, 2.3 million tons of sulfuric acid, and 1.7 million tons of copper products in Europe and the US.
Competitive Dynamics & Strategic Analysis
Porter's Five Forces Assessment:
Supplier Power: Moderate Aurubis purchases copper concentrates from mines worldwide and recycling materials from collectors and industrial sources. The company's scale and diverse supplier base provide leverage, but concentrate supply can tighten during mining disruptions.
Buyer Power: Low to Moderate Copper products are essential inputs for cable manufacturers, electrical equipment producers, and construction firms. Aurubis's product quality (99.99% purity) and reliable supply command modest premiums.
Threat of New Entrants: Low Building a copper smelter requires billions in capital, decades of operational expertise, and regulatory approvals that take years to secure. Aurubis built the first greenfield smelter in the US in over a century—illustrating how rare such investments are.
Threat of Substitutes: Low to Moderate Aluminum can substitute for copper in some applications, but copper's superior conductivity makes it irreplaceable for high-performance electrical systems. The energy transition is increasing, not decreasing, copper's criticality.
Competitive Rivalry: Moderate In Europe, Aurubis faces limited direct competition after consolidation. Globally, competition comes from Chinese smelters, Codelco's processing operations, and integrated mining-smelting companies like Freeport-McMoRan.
Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers Analysis:
Scale Economies: Aurubis benefits significantly from scale, spreading fixed costs across more than 1 million tons of annual copper production. Smaller European smelters cannot match this cost position.
Network Effects: Limited direct network effects, though the company's supplier relationships create information advantages about feedstock availability.
Counter-Positioning: Aurubis's focus on recycling represents counter-positioning versus mining-centric competitors. As recycling volumes grow and virgin ore quality declines, this positioning strengthens.
Switching Costs: Moderate. Long-term supply contracts and certified product quality create some stickiness with customers.
Branding: Limited brand power with end consumers, but the Aurubis name carries credibility with industrial customers.
Cornered Resource: The Pirdop facility and Hamburg site represent valuable, difficult-to-replicate assets. The Wohlwill electrolysis heritage provides operational know-how accumulated over nearly 150 years.
Process Power: Perhaps Aurubis's strongest power. The ability to process complex, low-grade feedstocks that competitors cannot handle profitably represents genuine process advantage.
Myth vs. Reality
| Consensus Narrative | Reality Check |
|---|---|
| "Aurubis is just a commoditized copper processor" | Aurubis's ability to process complex recycling streams that competitors reject creates differentiated value. The multimetal strategy extends this advantage. |
| "The theft scandal shows fundamental governance problems" | The scandal was severe, but management accountability (three executives departed) and enhanced controls suggest the board responded appropriately. Time will tell if reforms prove durable. |
| "European copper demand will decline as manufacturing shifts to Asia" | Europe's energy transition requires massive copper investment. EU policies actively support onshoring of critical metal processing. |
| "The Richmond plant is a risky bet on an unfamiliar market" | Dr. Haag previously served as Aurubis CFO; the company has operated in Buffalo since 2011. This isn't a blind jump into unknown territory. |
Key Performance Indicators for Ongoing Monitoring
1. Treatment & Refining Charges (TC/RCs)
TC/RCs measure what mines pay smelters to process concentrate. When concentrate supply is tight, charges fall (bad for smelters); when smelting capacity is scarce, charges rise (good for smelters). This is Aurubis's most important margin driver in primary copper.
2. Operating Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
The company achieved ROCE of 11.5% in fiscal 2023/24. As of June 30, 2025, operating ROCE was 9.1% compared to 11.1% in the same prior-year period, mainly due to the growth projects currently being implemented. As major capital projects like Richmond reach full production, ROCE should recover. Watching this metric reveals whether growth investments are generating adequate returns.
Bull Case & Bear Case
Bull Case:
The electrification megatrend represents a multi-decade tailwind for copper demand. Global copper demand is set to surge 24% by 2035, rising by 8.2 million tonnes per annum to 42.7 Mtpa, according to Wood Mackenzie. Aurubis is positioned to benefit through both primary smelting (processing concentrates from mines expanding to meet demand) and recycling (processing the growing stream of end-of-life electronics and industrial scrap).
The Richmond plant gives Aurubis first-mover advantage in American multimetal recycling—precisely as US policymakers emphasize domestic supply chain security for critical metals. The Richmond facility will help reduce US reliance on imported copper, which currently accounts for approximately 50% of the country's 1.8 million ton annual demand.
The sustainability credentials position Aurubis favorably for customers and regulators increasingly focused on supply chain ESG. The German Sustainability Award and documented carbon footprint reduction provide concrete evidence.
At current valuation, the stock trades at modest multiples to earnings and book value, suggesting limited downside if the base business performs adequately, with meaningful upside if strategic projects deliver projected returns.
Bear Case:
Aurubis remains fundamentally a processing business, not a resource owner. When copper prices surge, miners capture most of the windfall; when prices crash, Aurubis faces margin compression even as volumes remain stable. The company's fortunes are tied to factors beyond its control.
The 2023 theft scandal revealed vulnerabilities in internal controls. Despite management changes and enhanced security, the fundamental challenge—processing materials worth hundreds of millions creates incentives for theft—remains. Future losses are possible.
Salzgitter has held 29.99% of Aurubis and a stake of more than 30% would have triggered a mandatory offer to remaining shareholders. Salzgitter, which owns 29.99% of Aurubis, said in October it would sell €500 million worth of bonds that could be exchanged for 7.6% of Aurubis's stock. If Salzgitter reduces its stake substantially, Aurubis loses an anchor shareholder who has provided stability through volatile periods.
Richmond's success depends on feedstock availability in a market Aurubis hasn't historically served. If American scrap collectors prefer Asian buyers willing to pay premium prices, the plant could struggle to achieve projected utilization.
Material Risks & Regulatory Considerations
Regulatory Environment: Aurubis operates under stringent European environmental regulations. While the company has invested heavily in compliance, tightening standards could require additional capital expenditure. The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act creates responsibilities for supplier conduct that add compliance costs and potential liability.
Supply Chain Sourcing: Aurubis has faced criticism regarding copper sourcing from controversial mining operations. A complaint under the German Supply Chain Act concerning Aurubis' copper imports from Panama highlighted that Aurubis procured copper ore from the controversial Cobre Panamá mining project. Operating without a contract and therefore illegally in a nature reserve since 2017, the mine has been the cause of significant environmental damage. Such controversies could affect customer relationships and regulatory standing.
Accounting Considerations: The operating EBT metric that Aurubis emphasizes differs from IFRS earnings. Because the IFRS result includes measurement effects of metal price fluctuations from unrealized transactions and other factors, Aurubis discloses an operating result (EBT) that differs from the IFRS result. Investors should understand both figures and their relationship.
Conclusion: Europe's Red Metal Champion
Aurubis stands at the intersection of industrial heritage and twenty-first-century megatrends. The company's roots stretch back 255 years to a single silver furnace on Hamburg's waterfront; its future depends on successfully recycling the electronic waste stream of a digitizing world and supplying the copper that will wire the energy transition.
The 2023 crisis tested Aurubis severely—but the company emerged with new leadership, enhanced controls, and strategic projects approaching completion. The Richmond plant marks Aurubis's boldest international expansion ever, betting that America will need local multimetal recycling capacity as supply chain security concerns intensify.
For long-term investors, Aurubis offers exposure to copper's structural demand growth without the exploration risk, geological uncertainty, or political volatility of mining investments. The trade-off is lower potential upside: Aurubis will never discover a world-class deposit that transforms its value overnight. Instead, it offers the prospect of steady returns from an essential industrial function performed with increasing efficiency and sustainability.
"On the back of megatrends driving our business, we are ideally positioned to power the world with sustainable metals," as Dr. Toralf Haag puts it.
Whether that positioning translates into superior shareholder returns will depend on execution of the multimetal strategy, successful ramp-up of Richmond, and navigation of the inevitable cycles in commodity markets. The company has demonstrated resilience across 155 years and two world wars. The next chapter is being written now.
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