Responsible supply chain

Locally established.  Globally committed.

We take responsibility for sustainability standards, and not just in our own production processes and in our own actions, but in our supply chain as well. This is all the more important because we source raw materials from around the world. We systematically analyze the risks of our suppliers and supplier countries in view of possible risks regarding compliance with sustainability standards.

We source our primary and secondary raw materials from a number of suppliers, which protects us from becoming too dependent on individual major suppliers and shields us from regional fluctuations on the global market. In our primary smelters, we source and process concentrates extracted from ores that contain copper and precious metals and are sold by mining companies and trading companies on the global market. We source most of these concentrates from large, global mining companies that are committed to more sustainable economic activities and regularly report their sustainability performance.

We require that our business partners follow local laws, UN sanctions and trade restrictions, as well as UN conventions on human rights, environmental protection, and safety.

To fulfill our due diligence obligation with regard to all of our material topics in the supply chain area, we implemented a Business Partner Screening system based on OECD guidelines.

In the 2021/22 fiscal year, all procurement processes, including those for conflict minerals, were revised with a particular focus on supply chain due diligence. The new Responsible Sourcing Policy entered into force on October 1, 2022. The purpose of this corporate policy is to define the responsibilities and procedures in the Group regarding supply chain due diligence and to even better meet the demanding standards of industry initiatives, such as "The Copper Mark” and the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), along with the LkSG (German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act).

 

Since 2013, Aurubis’ gold production has been annually certified as conflict free according to the standards of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). This certificate verifies that we carry out our due diligence in accordance with the OECD standards. This certification option has been available for silver since 2019, and Aurubis’ silver production has been certified as conflict free since then as well. Tin production at our Beerse and Berango sites has been certified as conflict free in accordance with the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process Standard (RMAP) and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) since 2015. This standard is also based on the OECE standard for conflict minerals.

Human rights and environmental risks, as well as violations of human rights or environmental responsibilities, that result from Aurubis’ business activities in its own business area or with direct and indirect suppliers, can be reported via our whistleblower hotline.