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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.

Electrodeposited copper foil manufacturers in Japan are to increase purchasing of copper scrap in May. Some dealers have already agreed to supply the increased quantity, however, scrap generation remains low due to the ongoing industrial and building construction slowdown. It has been reported that since the beginning of the year, Japanese copper foil makers have cut their copper scrap procurement by 50%. According to the new plans, copper foil producers intend to double copper scrap buying compared to January-April.

Many Japanese scrap dealers have reduced their shipments to copper alloy fabricators by more than 20% in October due to falling demand. Copper fabricators have decreased their scrap purchasing volumes because of weaker semis output. A number of brass bar makers decreased their buying volume of brass turning scrap by more than 30% in October. From the supply side, copper scrap generation has been tight. Scrap availability has been falling since July and that has triggered competition between scrap dealers to maintain adequate levels of inventory, which resulted in a spike in the market price in September.

The Nizhni Novgorod Copper Company will invest around RUB800M (US$32M) in a copper wirerod plant in Dzerzhinsk, in the Nizhni Novgorod region of Russia. The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 25,000t/y, and will use 26,000t/y of copper scrap. Commissioning is expected in late 2010.

According to Sims Metal Management Asia, China is anticipated to remain a leading consumer of copper scrap as it continues to produce less recycled copper than required. The company also said that Chinese imports of copper scrap have been steadily increasing. The copper scrap industry has registered a steady recovery, supported by high cathode prices. However, volumes are still below 2008 levels. Generation of copper scrap has been slow, due to the sluggish recovery in the US construction sector.

SDI-La Farga's joint venture wirerod project, which will have the capacity to produce 82,000t/y of copper wirerod once made fully operational after its scheduled Q2 2012 start-up, will use No. 2 Birch Cliff scrap as its primary feedstock. No. 2 Birch Cliff is a mix of wire and tubing with 96% copper content. This scrap material is popular amongst China copper consumers, fuelling speculation that the new US operation will lead to a narrowing of US scrap discounts and questioning whether it can compete in a market with a lower cathode-scrap margin.

While the global copper scrap prices remain strong and short supply continues Korea still keeps high degree of dependency upon imports of copper scrap due to low self sufficiency.

Supply of copper scrap is expected to gradually increase in the domestic market. With the full-scale enforcement of a system for copper scrap buyers to pay added-value tax.

LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The market for copper scrap is set to tighten as competition for the secondary raw material, eagerly sought as a cheaper alternative to refined copper cathode, rises globally.

"At the start of the decade, Network Rail was hit by a wave of cable thefts which approached 1,000 cases a year as the price of scrap copper and other industrial metals soared. New data show that thefts in England and Wales fell below 41,000 in the year 2013-14 - down from 60,000 in the previous 12 months. "In recent years, we have witnessed a huge reduction in the number of incidents of cable theft on the railway," said a Network Rail official. "Disruption caused by the crime has fallen tenfold since its peak in 2010-11, when passengers suffered more than 6,000 hours of delay." Raids on church roofs, to strip copper and lead sheeting - another traditional target for thieves seeking to supply unscrupulous metal dealers - have also subsided with the price of scrap. Other areas affected include telecommunications and power networks, road signs, memorials, libraries, schools and children's playgrounds."

The EU is being urged by industry body Eurometrec to agree End-of-Waste criteria for copper scrap, despite some contention over the maximum level of foreign materials. The EU is proposing a 2% maximum foreign material content in order to allow copper scrap to cease being classified as waste, while recyclers have argued for a 5% maximum. Achieving End-of-Waste status will allow material to be classified as a product and exempt from waste permitting regulations.

In China, scrap merchants lost so much money in the second half of last year that many are idle; scrap is, therefore, tight in China. Some smelters have also been forced to cut production, led by Jiangxi Copper, who have had a blow-out in their oxygen plant, so we hear, which will take 6-7 months for reparations to be completed. Until 2009, importers had difficulties in opening Letters of Credit; now banks are enabling LCs to be given and opened.

Meanwhile, it provides the latest market information for scrap metal, plastic scrap and waste paper every day; and updates on supply and demand including daily waste rubber, waste electronic/electric equipment, waste glass and waste leather.

In late-May, two further large metal recycling projects have been announced in China as the country seeks to satisfy its burgeoning need for scrap metal given its shortfall in mineral resources. The Wuzhou Resource Recycling project has been approved to be constructed in Cangwu county in Guangxi province. The total investment in the project is 15bn Yuan. The construction is planned to cover an area of 667 hectares, divided into three stages, and will eventually create 40,000 new jobs. Separately, the Zhonghong recycling industrial park in Shenyang, Liaoning province has been completed and is to open in early June. The industrial park covers an area of 3 square kilometres and has cost 5bn Yuan to develop. It will create 10,000 employment opportunities and has dismantling capacity of 1 million metric tonnes per year.

China to boost scrap recovery for smelters and fabricators

KME Group SpA, a leading copper and copper alloy semis maker based in Italy, will buy 30% of Sigimet SpA, an Italian ferrous and non-ferrous metals trader. The company also bought 30% of Italian scrap metals trader Metalbuyer in February. In both cases, KME holds the option to raise its share. Considering that the company relies on scrap for more than 50% of its metal input, the acquisitions will lead to a reduction in supply costs. The company said that the acquisitions will benefit industrial activity, however, the main objective was diversification rather than integration.

Founded in 2005, LeDi is located in China near Shanghai in Zhejiang province, a hub of transportation, trading and communications. The company has three copper wire production lines with total annual capacity of approximately 36,000 tons. In April 2009, LeDi received a license to import scrap metal directly from foreign countries, making it one of the only copper processing companies in China that is licensed to import scrap copper directly from the USA, thereby decreasing raw materials costs and providing a meaningful competitive advantage.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bay Acquisition Corp. (formerly known as SecureLogic Corp.) (OTCBB: SLGI) ("Bay Acquisition"), announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Zhejiang Ledi Electronic Technology Co., LTD. ("LeDi"), a copper processing enterprise located in China, which produces electrical copper wires in the wire and cable industries. The transaction is structured as an acquisition of LeDi's Samoan-based holding company.