Olubis, the largest copper producer in Europe, expects copper prices to remain at the current high level, improving earnings

       Aurubis, Europe's largest copper producer, raised its profit forecast for the new fiscal year on Thursday, as copper demand and prices are expected to remain high despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

　　From the 2020/21 fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2020, the company's pre-tax operating profit (EBT) is expected to reach 270 million euros to 330 million euros, higher than the earlier forecast of 210 million euros to 270 million euros.

　　Roland Harlins, CEO of Olubis, said that the company gave conservative forecasts at the beginning of the year because the market expectations given by industry analysts were inconsistent. It is now clear that the cost of refining recycled materials and the price of copper will remain at the current high level. This will benefit the company's profitability. In addition, strong customer demand for all our products will also benefit the company's performance.

　　On Thursday, the company announced in advance that the EBT for the first quarter of the 2020/21 fiscal year was 82 million euros, higher than the 31 million euros in the same period last year.

　　In the first quarter of last year, the Hamburg Copper Smelter planned to stop production, which had a negative impact on the company’s earnings of approximately 34 million euros.

　　Copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose by about 26% in 2020, mainly due to China's economic recovery.