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June 2008\nNA Copper Mail

Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) said it is expecting at least EUR40 million of synergies each year from the takeover of Cumerio which was completed in March this year. The company said that it will benefit from the transfer of best practice between the two companies while cost savings mainly come from logistics and process optimization. NA also plans to increase production at its Cumerio smelters. The company expects further acquisition opportunities in Europe and in other parts of the world, including Asia. NA plans to expand its operations in southeastern Europe and the Black Sea region to capitalize on its strong economic growth before looking for growth opportunities outside Europe. In Bulgaria, the company currently expands copper cathode production capacity of its Pirdop smelter to 180,000 tonnes per year.

Norddeutsche Affinerie is to invest €62.5M to increase by 60% its copper scrap recycling capacity in Lünen, Germany by 2011. The investment will double the firm's capacity to process complex copper-bearing scrap such as shreddings, powders and electrical scrap to 140,000t/y, bringing total scrap recycling capacity up to 350,000t/y from 220,000t/y currently. The scrap will be processed into copper cathode. The investment will see the installation of a second smelting furnace, and a waste gas purification plant in Lünen. Norddeutsche's current secondary smelter in Lünen uses a range of scrap, whilst its Hamburg plant uses copper concentrate and a small percentage of high-grade scrap. Electronic scrap availability has increased in Europe as end-of-life regulations have been introduced for its disposal.

Copper demand is likely to remain relatively strong in 2009 despite the world economic slowdown, the chief executive of Norddeutsche Affinerie, Europe's largest copper refinery, said on Wednesday.

Copper smelter Norddeutsche Affinerie (NAFG.DE) expects sharply weaker results in its fiscal first quarter as lower copper prices trigger write-downs on inventories at its Cumerio unit, it said on Wednesday.

Salzgitter, one of Europe's leading steel and technology corporations has acquired a 5.8% stake in the German copper producer Norddeutsche Affinerie. Both companies have "agreed to investigate medium to long-term opportunities to cooperate for example in the fields of production technology, research and development as well as in procurement and sales for the benefit of both companies". There are currently no further plans for Salzgitter to increase its share in Norddeutsche, the company said.

Norddeutsche Affinerie (NA) (NAFG.DE) expects a global copper shortage to keep business conditions good despite the financial crisis, Europe's biggest copper smelter said on Wednesday.

Salzgitter announced that it has increased its stake in Norddeutsche Affiniere, a German copper producer, whose subsidiaries Schwermetall Halbzeugwek and Prymetall achieved 2007 production of 239,000 tonnes and 62,000 tonnes respectively. The steel and technology company acquired a 5.8% stake in Norddeutsche on the 15th of July and yesterday increased this by a further 5% to 10.8% total.

Cumerio Belgium, a subsidiary of Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA), announced on 20th Nov its intention to close a copper billets and cakes production line at the Olen site. The decision was made based on the fact that production volumes in the department have halved over the last seven years and the line is currently losing money due to the low capacity utilisation rate. The company said that high copper prices in the last years had caused significant substitution losses to demand for copper billets and cakes, especially those for sanitary piping and roofing applications.