The Swiss multinational will build a state-of-the-art warehouse in the Asturiana de Zinc industrial site in San Juan de Nieva
The investment ensures a bright future for one of the most outstanding success stories of companies with foreign capital established in Asturias
The Swiss multinational Glencore will invest 100M euros in the modernization of the industrial site that its subsidiary Asturiana de Zinc, S.A. (AZSA) has in San Juan de Nieva (Castrillón, Asturias), which employs almost 800 workers.
Specifically, Glencore foresees the construction of a new electrolysis plant that will replace two of the current ones. Electrolysis is one of the final processes in the production of electrolytic zinc.
With this spectacular investment, Glencore, dedicated to the exploitation of natural resources, seeks to improve the efficiency of its production process from a technological and environmental point of view. It will do so by incorporating digital processes and Industry 4.0 in the new warehouse. This is a framework in which Asturias advances through its Industry 4.0 Programme on the road to the fourth industrial revolution.
The company acquired AZSA in 2013 and has never stopped investing in the modernization of its facilities, becoming one of the most outstanding success stories of companies with foreign capital established in Asturias. The construction of the new electrolysis plant will be carried out mostly with the company’s own resources and with the support of local companies.
Global leaders in zinc production
Glencore is one of the world’s leading zinc producers. The industrial site that Asturiana de Zinc has in San Juan de Nieva is also one of the largest and most efficient in the zinc sector in the world (with a production of more than 500,000 tonnes in 2018) thanks to the development of its own technology.
The zinc business is living a golden era thanks to the universalisation of the galvanising process, which is its main use, with the automobile and construction sectors as its main markets. With the incoming generalization of battery manufacturing for electric vehicles, the future looks bright, because according to some experts, zinc is positioned as the electric fuel of the future.
