Production at Rönnskär has partially resumed after the fire that occurred on the night of June 13, where the electrolytic refinery was completely destroyed. All other production lines at Rönnskär are expected to be ready for production during July. Until further notice, copper production will take place in the form of anodes instead of cathodes, which affects the commercial business model. Several of the production lines may have to operate at limited capacity. As a result of the fire, a need has arisen to initiate redundancy consultation concerning 190 positions at Rönnskär.
Production at Rönnskär has now been partially resumed and the first copper anode was casted already on Saturday, June 24. Gradually, additional parts of the production will restart and all production lines (apart from the completely destroyed electrolytic refinery) are expected to be ready during July.
The work to transform customer base from copper cathode customers to copper anode customers is ongoing and it is not certain that all production lines that were undamaged by the fire will be run at full capacity given the changed commercial conditions. Since further production lines may be closed or operate at limited capacity, the redundancy consultation is broader than just concerning the positions at the electrolytic refinery. A total of 190 positions at Rönnskär are in the scope of the redundancy consultation. Negotiations with unions will now be initiated.
As a result of the complete destruction of the electrolytic refinery, the book value of SEK 88 m has been written down. In addition, SEK 75 m has been reserved for costs related to the demolition, cleaning and restoration work of the fire-damaged area. In addition, in line with what was previously communicated, EBIT for the second quarter will be affected by approximately SEK -200 m linked to lost production and cancelled outbound deliveries.
Boliden will not provide any further financial comments until the report for the second quarter of 2023 is published on July 20.
For further information, please contact:
Klas Nilsson, Director Group Communications, phone: +46 70-453 65 88
[email protected]
Boliden’s vision is to be the most climate-friendly and respected metal provider in the world. We are Europe’s producer of sustainable metals and, guided by our values care, courage and responsibility, we operate within exploration, mines, smelters and recycling. We are more than 6,000 employees and have annual revenues of approximately SEK 85 billion. The share is listed in the Large Cap segment of NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
www.boliden.com