SANTIAGO, April 17 (Reuters) - Aurubis (NAFG.DE), Europe's largest copper producer, plans to eschew large acquisitions and instead build a network of recycling facilities across the globe as part of its focus on organic growth, its CEO said on Wednesday.
The company, which is emerging from a 2023 scandal when its copper was stolen by an organized crime ring, is set to open a U.S. recycling facility by December.
That project is seen as a blueprint for the construction of similar facilities elsewhere because there are no viable takeover options, Roland Harings told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Copper Conference in Santiago.
"We have to grow organically because for our strategy there are no real (M&A) targets," he said. "We want to grow in recycling."
The $700 million Augusta, Georgia facility, the company's first project outside of Europe, will have an initial capacity of 90,000 metric tons per year that will grow to 180,000 metric tons in a second phase.
"What we have done there is the cookie cutter approach," Harings said of the Georgia facility. "The intention is that this is not a one-off. Recyclable materials are available in many regions."
