- Using recovered materials and through an electrorefining process, it will produce copper with a purity of 99.99%
- With an initial investment of €120 million, it will create 80 jobs
- Construction works are expected to begin in the summer of 2024
The Cunext Group, a leading supplier in the manufacture of copper and aluminium materials for the transmission of electrical energy, data and signals, today presented at Córdoba City Council its project for the construction of a new factory in the city. The aim is to produce 100,000 tonnes per year of green copper from recycled materials, as announced this morning at City Hall by the Mayor, José María Bellido, and the company’s Executive Chairman, Dámaso Quintana.
This new plant will involve an initial investment of €120 million and will place the city of Córdoba at the forefront in Europe in the manufacture of carbon-neutral copper products, which are key for strategic industrial sectors such as the automotive industry—particularly in the production of electric vehicles—the transport industry, and the electrical sector, both in conventional and renewable energy.
The new plant, which will be located on a 309,500 m² site on the Granada road, four kilometres from CUNEXT’s current facilities, will produce Grade A copper cathodes (with a copper content of 99.99%) from recovered materials (scrap). This will make it possible to replace a significant proportion of the primary copper (sourced from mining) currently used as a raw material for the production of wire rod (an intermediate product used in the manufacture of copper products).
To manufacture this “green copper wire rod”, a new electrolysis process will be developed and implemented, capable of initially producing 100,000 tonnes per year of Grade A cathodes from copper anodes sourced from recycled materials.
With the construction of this new plant, the company aims, according to its Executive Chairman, Dámaso Quintana, to drive the energy transition by manufacturing products to the highest quality standards and with the lowest carbon footprint on the market, in order to meet the growing demand for sustainable products in sectors with specific requirements, such as the automotive industry for electric vehicle production and renewable energy. Quintana also highlighted that this new plant will contribute to the decarbonisation of industry, as well as reduce the consumption of natural resources, since copper has an infinite life cycle and, once extracted from the mine, can be recycled repeatedly without losing any of its properties.
For his part, the Mayor of Córdoba, José María Bellido, considers that “the Cunext Group’s initiative is a benchmark for the new industrialisation of Córdoba, which will be declared a strategic project for the city by the local government”. In this regard, Bellido thanked Cunext for its commitment to Córdoba and for clearly contributing to the city’s development through its “growth strategy based on sustainability values; an example of growth driven by electrification and the elimination of carbon footprint”.
The company is currently implementing a series of investments to expand the copper refining section at its Córdoba plant, which will come into operation this year. These investments aim to equip the process with the capacity to produce copper anodes in this section, obtained from the melting of scrap. These anodes will serve as the raw material feeding the electrolysis process at the newly presented plant, completing the growth process that positions the CUNEXT Group as a leading Spanish company, and one of the main players in Europe, in the manufacture of green copper.