Sapa sells Cuprochimique to European Metal Supplies

Norway’s Sapa Group announced Saturday that it has divested itself of metal trading company Cuprochimique NV. Belgian firm European Metal Supplies NV are the new owners of Cuprochimique as of Wednesday, June 22.

“Together with Cuprochimque we will strengthen our position in the market by expanding our business range and diversifying our product portfolio,” said majority owner David Tavernier. European Metal Supplies and Cuprochimique join forces as players in the metal trading industry.

According to Sapa, Cuprochimique has a yearly turnover of between US$9 million and US$11 million. The firm employs sixteen people at its location in the Flemish port city of Ghent, Belgium. Sapa first acquired Cuprochimique in 2003 as part of its acquisition of Remi Claeys Aluminium.

“With the sale of Cuprochimique, our Benelux organization will be able to focus on our core activities in the building and construction market, while with European Metal Supplies, Cuprochimique has found a good home to further develop and grow its business,” says Sapa’s Steven Helsen, head of aluminium building systems operations in Benelux and the United Kingdom.

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Sapa AS is the world’s leading producer of aluminium extrusion. The firm and its 23,500 employees provide many different aluminium services, including cutting, bending, CNC processing, hydroforming, fusion welding, friction stir welding, anodizing, and painting, among others. It began as Skandinaviska Aluminiumprofiler AB in 1963, building its first extrusion facility 200 miles southwest of Stockholm in Vetlanda, and turning out its first extrusions in 1967. Norwegian conglomerate Orkla Group purchased Sapa in 2005 and delisted the company from the Stockholmsbörsen (Swedish Stock Exchange). American aluminium giant Alcoa partnered with Sapa to form Sapa Alcoa in 2007, and in 2008 Sapa gained Alcoa’s soft aluminium alloy extrusion business from Orkla after Orkla executed an asset swap with Alcoa. Norsk Hydro mixed in its extrusion business in 2012, at which point it acquired its 50% share.