Povrly Copper Industries → Changes in this copper-processing company

Gradual growth and new products. Changes await Povrly

Text: Luděk Vokáč, photo: Barbora Mráčková

The traditional copper and copper-alloy processor, Měď Povrly, is about to make some changes over the upcoming months and years. It will change its name, expand its portfolio, and focus even more on foreign markets. Other important issues are the circular economy, energy saving, and renewable sources.

Měď Povrly will change its name later this year. The company will now be called Povrly Copper Industries, and its subsidiary, MEPO Trading, will be called PCI Trading. There are two main reasons for the name change. “Approximately two thirds of our production is for foreign clients who are not comfortable with Czech diacritics,” says the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, David Kozel, on why the name has been made more international. The other reason concerns the production portfolio. “We are currently making almost exclusively brass products, which is an alloy of copper and zinc. We will definitely return to making products from pure copper, but right now, having copper in our name is more fitting,” continues Kozel. However, Kozel also says the new name isn’t just about globalization and the portfolio. It was also important to preserve the name of the plant because people in Povrly have been working with copper since 1898. “You could say that Povrly is a brand and we wanted to keep our affiliation with it,” says Kozel, further explaining the new name. Changing the name required a number of steps like getting approval from the Board of Directors and amending registers with certification authorities and other places. Of course, the company will also communicate the name change to its customers. They are aiming to complete the process by the end of this year. “We want to show that Povrly is changing, improving, and evolving,” Kozel says about the rebrand. Changing the name also meant changes inside the company. It has successfully increased production efficiency and volume, but further expansion can no longer be covered from profits alone. “Compared to 2019, we’ve managed to increase our capacity by about 30% and each month our production is at a record high,” says Kozel about the company’s growth. There are currently two investments planned which will also significantly increase production capacity. “The first investment is to increase the size of our coils, which will increase our capacity by up to 15%,” explains the CEO. The second investment is for a new press for the cup-production line.

No end in sight for the plans

Povrly Copper Industries are also thinking about investments in the more distant future. “We are currently working on a long-term investment plan. In addition to increasing production capacity, the goal is to modernize and reconstruct our whole plant,” Kozel says. Reconstruction will make working there more comfortable and will also help save energy and water. In Povrly, electricity is key and to a lesser extent, so is gas. “Part of the reconstruction is the deployment of solar panels. The roof area is large enough for it to make sense,” Kozel says. Having its own source of energy covers a part of the production but also helps it to be safer. When the power goes off, the melt needs to be cooled so that no accidents occur. The plant can currently handle such situations but having their own source of energy makes it even safer. In terms of gas, the company plans to keep using natural gas but doesn’t rule out possible changes in the future. “It all depends on gas availability. We have prepared both short-term and long-term crisis plans for the event of power outages.” explains the CEO. Another idea for the future is building a recycling plant for copper and brass scraps. “We are currently using primary copper and zinc but also scraps. However, we are getting the scrap from our clients because we have high demands for alloy purity. Having our own recycling plant would allow us to import scrap from more sources,” contemplates David Kozel.

In the north-Bohemian town of Povrly, people have been working with copper since 1898. Povrly Copper Industries are continuing this tradition. The company mainly produces brass sheets, strips, coils, cups, and roundels. These semi-finished products are used in many industries. They are exported to 25 countries around the world and the company currently employs about 220 people.

Whether the recycling plant will be built or not is still uncertain, just like some of our other future plans. “Not even the most talented dystopian writers would have been able to imagine the events of the past three years. Planning ten or more years into the future is almost impossible, and yet also absolutely necessary. This paradox means our long-term plans will never be finished. They will always have to be amended in response to current developments,” reflects Kozel. By the way, METALIMEX buys all its primary metals as well as scraps from Europe and isn’t in any way dependent on Russia.

New products, new employees

Another part of the future of the company will be the development of the production portfolio. Měď Povrly has been mainly making brass semi-finished products, coils and cups. However, Kozel indicates that the company wants to return to making products from pure copper. A potential area for growth is copper electrical conductors. “The demand in this sector has recently grown due to electric vehicles and we want to take advantage of this trend,” Kozel says. And it’s not just semi-finished products for cable production. On the contrary. Various couplings, connectors and other electroconductive products for (not only) electric vehicles are increasingly required and much more interesting. Pressing various parts requires investment in universal presses, for example. The presses used for cup production are designed to serve a single purpose only. With or without new products in the portfolio, Povrly Copper Industries will also need new employees. “Sure, we will automate but at the same time, we will need more skilled workers and technicians,” explains Kozel. More jobs might be available in the new tool works, which the company is considering building.