Korea Zinc buys US Kataman for $55 mn for recycling business

Korea Zinc Inc., the world’s largest lead and zinc smelter, acquired Kataman Metals LLC, a US-based scrap metal trading company, at $55 million to expand the recycling business, its new growth driver.

Korea Zinc said on Monday it has completed the acquisition of Kataman’s 100% stake through its US subsidiary Pedalpoint Holdings LLC while assuming the trading house’s debt of 269.5 billion won ($199.6 million).

Korea Zinc aims to stably procure materials including scrap metals for its recycling business, which extracts valuable ingredients such as copper through the takeover of Kataman, which has been building a nationwide network with US scrap traders. Global recycling companies seek stable procurements of waste.

“The local network in the US is one of its core assets,” said a Korea Zinc official in Seoul.

STABLE RECYCLING VALUE CHAIN

Kataman buys and sells about 300,000 tons of scrap metals such as waste copper and aluminum. Its annual trading value averaged about $1.5 billion during the recent three years.

Korea Zinc plans to collect scrap metals through Kataman in the US, while Igneo Holdings LLC, a US-based electronic waste recycling company acquired in 2022, is slated to process the wastes.

The South Korean company is set to use scrap copper collected by Kataman as it aims to increase its copper production to 150,000 tons a year by 2028.

“We plan to establish a stable recycling value chain, which connects Kataman, Igneo and Korea Zinc,” said the official.

Write to Sang Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Chon edited this article.