February 6 (SeeNews) - German copper producer Aurubis said on Monday that the cathode output of its smelter in Pirdop, Bulgaria, increased by an annual 7% to 58,000 t in the first quarter of its fiscal year 2022/2023 started on October 1.
Copper concentrate throughput at Pirdop decreased by 1% year-on-year to 369,000 t in the October-December period of 2022, but in general the smelter recorded a strong performance similar to the previous year, Aurubis said in an interim financial statement.
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Sulfuric acid output at the smelter located 80 kilometres east of Sofia, amounted to 367,000 t in the review period, also down 1% on the prior-year first quarter.
The custom smelting and products (CSP) segment, of which the Pirdop plant forms part, generated operating earnings before tax (EBT) of 108 million euro ($116.3 million) in the review period against 94 million euro a year earlier, in part due to a revenue rise resulting from higher copper product prices. Looking ahead, the Pirdop primary site is already supplied with concentrates at good treatment and refining charges into the third quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the statement.
Aurubis added it will make an initial planned investment of 12 million euro to expand to 24 MW from 14 MW the capacity of its in-house solar park at Pirdop, confirming stated investment plans.
($ = 0.9287 euro)
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