Oetinger’s French unit follows parent into administration

Affinage de Lorraine, the French subsidiary of German foundry alloys producer Oetinger Aluminium, has followed its parent company into insolvency, a source from the company told Metal Bulletin on Friday August 2.

“As a result of the Oetinger insolvency, our French company has applied for insolvency this week,” the source said. “The administrator will send the official letter to suppliers and customers today.”

Oetinger went into administration on June 26 after months of severe margin pressure, as secondary aluminium ingot prices were kept low by depressed aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange and tightness in the scrap market maintained high raw material prices.

Its four German units – in Weißenhorn, Hanover, Berlin, and Neu-Ulm – were included in the insolvency, but Affinage de Lorraine was not.

Last week, Oetinger’s administrator guaranteed payments to raw material suppliers through to the end of August, and the company resumed offering spot material into the market.

Affinage de Lorraine will now seek a similar guarantee so that it can maintain operations.

“Production is still running, but at a lower level,” the source said. “But scrap dealers have stopped deliveries, so we need a guarantee from the administrator.”

Affinage de Lorraine produces 50,000 tpy of foundry alloys.

Jethro Wookey 
jwookey@metalbulletin.com
Twitter: @jethrowookey_mb