Aurubis to Ramp Up New Copper Recycling Facility in the U.S.

The future copper demand will be mainly driven by data centres for artificial intelligence, Haag added.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Aurubis AG, a global supplier of nonferrous metals and a copper recycler situated in Hamburg, Germany, announced plans to expand its copper recycling smelter in the United States this year. The company's CEO, Toralf Haag, made the announcement and said it anticipates further opportunities for future investments.

Over the previous four years, the business has already spent almost $800 million to establish the copper recycling facility in Richmond. When fully operational, the facility can process around 180,000 metric tons of complicated copper scrap annually and generate nearly 70,000 tons of refined copper. Even while the company's primary priority right now is expanding the Richmond plant, it intends to spend more in recycling facilities in the future.

North America is an appealing market, according to Haag. Due to the absence of a sizable recycling facility for processing, the majority of the scrap from the area is exported. According to Haag, data centers for artificial intelligence will be the primary source of future copper demand.

The United States exported around 960,000 tons of copper scrap last year, according to data from Trade Data Monitor (TDU). Nearly 41% of all exports went to China, making it the main export destination. In 2024, Canada and Thailand were the other two main importers of copper scrap from the United States.

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