Nyrstar Chief Leaves Three Weeks After Trafigura Raises Stake

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) — Nyrstar NV Chief Executive Officer Roland Junck left the world’s largest refined-zinc producer three weeks after Trafigura Beheer BV raised its stake.

Chief Financial Officer Heinz Eigner will take over the role while the company seeks a replacement, Brussels-based Nyrstar said today in a statement. Eigner last month said Nyrstar had held talks with Trafigura, its largest shareholder, declining to elaborate on the discussions. Trafigura wasn’t immediately able to comment today when contacted by phone.

Nyrstar said Junck left to “pursue other interests.”

The zinc producer has rebounded in Brussels trading since a slump in September when it announced a sale of shares to existing holders at about half the market price to repay debt. That followed a strategic review of smelting operations, with Junck saying in July that the company needed to invest 250 million euros ($311 million) in about 25 projects.

Nyrstar jumped by as much as 1.5 percent at the open in Brussels today before trading little changed at 2.738 euros by 10:56 a.m., valuing it at 932 million euros ($1.2 billion). The company has rebounded 53 percent in 2014 after losing three- quarters of its value in the previous three years.

Trafigura, the second-largest metals trader, increased its holdings in Nyrstar to 15.3 percent on Nov. 6 from about 10.2 percent as the company boosts investments in physical metals and mining assets to compensate for tightening competition in trading. Based in Amsterdam, with major trading operations in Geneva, Trafigura is seeking to secure long-term supplies of copper, zinc, lead and iron ore for its trading business.

Nyrstar owns mines in Mexico, Peru, Honduras, Chile and Canada, according to its website. It has metals processing facilities in Europe, the U.S. and Australia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at [e-mail] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [e-mail] Tony Barrett, Dylan Griffiths