Europe’s top copper producer faces millions in losses after theft

EUROPE’S biggest copper producer has warned it may face hundreds of millions of euros in losses after being hit by a massive theft.

Shares in Hamburg-based Aurubis fell as much as 18pc after the company said it had found significant discrepancies in stockpiles and shipments of scrap metal linked to its recycling business.

Bosses believe some of its suppliers have manipulated details about the scrap metal they provided and have been working with employees in the company’s sampling department to cover it up.

Aurubis, which produces about 1.1m tons of copper sheets a year, said that while the exact cost of the theft could not be determined, it could not rule out losses in the low hundred-million-euro range. As a result, the company said it would not meet its profits forecast of between €450m (£400m) and €550m for the year. Steel-maker Salzgitter, which owns 30pc of Aurubis, has also suspended its results guidance for the financial year.

Aurubis was hit by a previous theft in June, which targeted “high-value precious-metal bearing intermediates” generated during the refining process. Six people have been arrested in that case and are awaiting trial. Aurubis said the most recent theft does not appear to be linked, but the incident will fuel concerns about its security controls.

The company is carrying out a check of its metal reserves that should be completed by the end of the month and has involved the State Office of Criminal Investigation. Copper, which sells for more than $8,000 (£6,300) a ton and has a wide range of uses from construction to electrical products, is often an attractive target for thieves.

Last year, The Daily Telegraph revealed that BT has deployed a fleet of drones to catch criminals stealing copper broadband cables following a spike in offences. Bosses suspect that the stolen metal is often shipped to China.

The Aurubis theft is the latest scandal to rock the global metal industry in recent months.

Earlier this year, commodity trader Trafigura said it expected to lose nearly $600m in what it described as a “systematic fraud” after finding that cargoes of nickel it had purchased did not contain any nickel.

The London Metal Exchange also shocked the market this year after discovering that some bags of nickel in its warehouses were actually filled with stones.