Page 69 from: May 2013

69May 2013

list. In Asia, for instance, these are the main

drivers of co-operation with European and

particularly German companies.

Crisis-proof
Over the past 10 years, Duesmann & Hensel has

made giant steps towards globalisation. In

search of new markets, the company has rap-

idly built up a worldwide network of subsidiar-

ies and sales offices. According to Theile, the

saturation of the European market was one

reason why the company chose a more global

approach for the business. ‘We figured the rise

of new markets would compensate for the

decline in existing markets. Besides, we wanted

to be closer to our customers’, he says.

Theile underlines the opportunities for the com-

pany arising from spectacular car sales in Asia,

with its 4 billion people – 60% of the world’s

population – offering the largest automotive mar-

ket in the world. Asians are buying twice as many

cars as they did four years ago. He states: ‘Last

year, China had an increase in car sales of 30%.

Thailand saw an increase of 80%. These are spec-

tacular figures. Given the growing significance of

the automotive industry and the high demand

for raw materials in Asia, the reason for our com-

mitment to China and also Malaysia is clear.’

Saving time and transport costs
For Duesmann & Hensel, another interesting

Asian market is South Korea where, last year, it

set up a subsidiary in the capital, Seoul. With

an average lifespan of only seven years per vehi-

cle, some 800 000 cars are being recycled in this

country every year. Until now, catalytic convert-

ers collected in South Korea were sent to

Europe. In future, only the monolith will be

exported, leaving the heavy steel cover to be

recycled domestically and thus allowing Dues-

mann & Hensel to save transport costs.

It is not only Asia that has captured Duesmann

& Hensel’s attention. In 2009, the company

established a recycling plant in Melbourne which

has the capacity to process all spent ceramic

catalytic converters arising in Australia and New

Zealand. The US operation in West-Berlin, New

Jersey, is the largest processing plant for metal

foil converters in the country with 35 employees.

Besides Germany, the company operates eight

plants worldwide – in Australia, China, France,

the UK, South Korea, Malaysia, Austria and the

USA. Furthermore, it runs sales offices in South

Africa and the Czech Republic.

Right-hand drive
A recent milestone for Duesmann & Hensel has

been the start-up of a recycling plant at Slinfold

in the south of England. As vehicles in the UK

are right-hand drive, they are rarely exported

and almost all used cars are scrapped. ‘The cata-

lytic converters are entering the recycling process

a lot sooner,’ notes Theile. ‘So even though there

are fewer cars on the market, the number of

catalysts in the recycling process is a lot higher.’

Although there are no concrete plans to start

up more plants in the near future, the company

is constantly seeking business opportunities. It

tries to keep the path to and from its customers

short. ‘We do keep a close look at all markets,

always ensuring to gain flexible and best prac-

tice solutions for our customers’, Theile says.

Market challenges
Theile is positive about the future. Of course,

no one can predict what happens to precious

metal prices, but sharp declines or rises as back

in 2008 are not expected. In that year, and over

a single month, prices of both platinum and

rhodium dropped dramatically, the former

from US$ 2200 to US$ 800 and the latter from

US$ 10 000 to US$ 1100 per troy ounce. Recy-

cling adds a sustainable inflow of material to

the market and thus stabilises the supply side.

Also, news like for instance a mine workers

strike in South Africa does not have that big

impact as it had previously.

Another issue is converter theft, although this has

always been a problem. Currently, a more press-

ing threat is coming from fake converters, Theile

says. ‘Bad guys remove the valuable ceramic and

replace it with material of low or no value. The

product looks very professional and scrap dealers

have to be careful when buying material from

unknown sources or traders. Due to our long

experience we are aware of those manipulations

and know how to handle them.’

Oh precious thing….
The average catalytic converter contains around 2
grams of platinum group metals (PGMs) with a
total value averaging Euro 65. The PGM content
and therefore the value varies depending on engine
size and design (diesel/gasoline); it can be as high
as Euro 450 but as low as Euro 5 per converter.
Extracting the precious metals is a complex pro-
cess for which modern facilities and large capac-
ities are required. More than 8700 square metres
of space is available at Duesmann & Hensel’s
headquarters in Aschaffenburg. Here, several
catalyst decanning stations separate the steel
scrap from the elements containing precious met-
als. Large selection stations ensure the rapid and
clean processing of the materials, resulting in a
homogeneous powder. A small sample of 100
grams is sent to an independent, external labora-
tory for the value to be determined.

Duesmann & Hensel Recycling’s headquarters at Aschaffenburg,
south Germany.

Catalytic converters waiting to be recycled.

‘We are lucky to
work with the best
people available’

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