Nyrstar’s zinc factory in Brabant, which has been shut down since January, quickly needs support from The Hague. Otherwise, staff will leave and planned investments will go abroad.
This is what the global CEO of Nyrstar, Guido Janssen, says in the RTL Z interview program Z360.
Nyrstar’s zinc factory in Brabante Budel has been largely silent since January, with no prospect of a restart. The zinc from the factory ends up in windmills, cars and solar panels. But there is currently no money to be made with zinc production in the Netherlands, says the CEO of one of the world’s largest zinc producers.
Dutch rules
According to the zinc maker, this is mainly due to regulations that only apply in the Netherlands and not in other European countries. For example, a tax benefit for the industry has recently been canceled and the factory has to pay more to the grid operator than in other countries. The factory is therefore shut down.
An investment of 100 million euros is planned, but it will probably go to another Nyrstar location in Europe, says CEO Guido Janssen. “That chance is very high. If we see that we do not have a fair playing field in the Netherlands, then you will of course not make very large investments in the Netherlands.”
Watch the entire interview here.
Nyrstar is also at risk: new investments abroad
Think more strategically
According to the CEO, Dutch politicians should think more strategically when it comes to industry. “You have to look: what is important for our future, what do we want to preserve and how are we going to do that?”
Earlier, the boss of chip machine maker ASML also complained about the Dutch business climate. The outgoing cabinet then decided to pump 1.7 billion euros into the Eindhoven region to support ASML and chip maker NXP, among others.
