Derichebourg lifts revenue, reactivates Karlsruhe rail connection

Derichebourg has resumed the operation of its rail connection at its German site in Karlsruhe, which was idled for a year and underwent repair, Kallanish learns.

Karlsruhe has a port on the Rhine River, but for a long time could not serve customers inland. Together with Deutsche Bahn’s freight transportation unit DB Cargo, it has reinstated a monthly service of ten cars with 50 tonnes of scrap each. It is in talks with DB Cargo for more cars in the future.

The French scrap merchant has already been cooperating with DB Cargo at its German sites in Nuremberg and Reuth in the Vogtland region. For those two sites, DB Cargo ships some 146,000 t/year, which is more than half of the total tonnage of Derichebourg in Germany, and which will increase with the reconnection of Karlsruhe.

Meanwhile, the French parent company reported an increase in revenue for its international recycling activities by 70% in the first-half fiscal year, or October 2021-March 2022, to €2.07 billion ($2.12 billion). The pre-tax profit (Ebitda) of the recycling segment rose by 51% to €153 million. Its sales of steel scrap grew by 20% to 2.4 million tonnes.

The increase is largely attributed to the acquisition of Ecore, without which the tonnage would have been 10% lower year-on-year, mostly due to subdued activity in the automotive industry.

Christian Koehl Germany