Zinc smelter Nyrstar from Budel has halted zinc production since January due to high energy costs and unfair competition with foreign countries. Now the company says that government support is ‘urgently’ needed to start making zinc again: “If competition with other European countries does not become fairer, we will have a problem.”
Nyrstar runs almost entirely on electricity. However, the amount of electricity required by the zinc smelter is so great that, according to the company, it has become unaffordable without government subsidy. For comparison: Nyrstar in Budel requires as much power at full capacity as the city of Eindhoven. That is equal to one percent of the total electricity consumption in the Netherlands.
CEO Guido Janssen told RTL Z program Z360 on Wednesday that the government should help pay the electricity bill. “What we now see is that energy prices have fallen, but there is no level playing field in Europe,” says Janssen. In other countries such as Belgium, Germany and France, zinc production continues, because the government is helping. Janssen: “If this is not resolved, we will have a problem.”
If no money comes from The Hague, the company is afraid it will have to move abroad. In the short term, Nyrstar runs the risk of staff leaving, according to the CEO. It is not clear how much support the zinc maker needs. According to Janssen, it would be necessary in the coming years at least.
Nyrstar claims to be the market leader in the field of zinc and lead processing and has its head office in Budel-Dorplein. The company has approximately four thousand employees worldwide, of whom approximately 485 work at the production location in Budel.
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Nyrstar also came to a standstill in 2022 and then the company also asked for financial support
