Paranapanema – Copper industry giant with annual revenue of approximately R $ 5.5 billion, is implementing a new, comprehensive set of actions in order to reduce costs, reduce idleness in their units and increase the company’s profitability . With the business plan, called Project Paranapanema 2018, the company intends to decrease 13% administrative expenditure and increase refined copper production by 20%, from the current 240,000 tonnes / year to 290,000 tons in 2018, as well as leverage operating margins. “Our margins have been very bad in recent years,” says the group’s president, the French Christopher Malik Akli in an exclusive interview for this column. 0 PMA-2018 also provides for investments of R $ 120 million per year limited to the depreciation of assets. The unit of Paranapanema (former Caraíba Metals) in Dias D’Avila will have the most resources: R $ 96 million. “Bahia plays a central role in this redesign. Here is the heart of Paranapanema. Here we turn copper concentrate into refined copper, and volume do we access the world markets,” said Akli, ahead of the company 14 months ago. In addition to Dias D’Ávila plant, the company also has manufacturing plants in Santo André (SP) and Serra (ES), which produces fittings, laminated and copper pipes.

Luciano da Matta / Ag. AFTERNOON

The factory Camaçari Industrial Complex is the Paranapanema plant in the country for the production of copper wires and rods

Company expands production of wires

Paranapanema unit in Dias D’Ávila gain a new wire drawing. The industrial equipment – imported from Germany and that cost $ 12 million – models copper rods to turn them into copper wire. The machine will start operating by mid-January and will allow expanding the current production capacity 48,000 tons per year to 72,000 tons / year. “We are thus adding more value to the products that come out here in Bahia,” says metallurgical engineer Rodrigo Junqueira, director of primary copper unit. With the new wire drawing, he says, will generate 25 new job opportunities in the drive.

SULPHURIC ACID – Another important ongoing project in Dias D’Avila is the renewal of the sulfuric acid plant equipment. The project will be completed by ofinal June next year. Investments totaled R $ 65 million.

Source: Journal The Afternoon