Creditors of German lead plant in talks about sale to Glencore

HAMBURG (Reuters) - Creditors of insolvent German lead producer Weser-Metall have decided to start exclusive talks about selling the plant to commodity group Glencore, the creditors said on Tuesday.

Glencore said it had no comment.

Weser-Metall GmbH in Nordenham produces about 105,000 tonnes of lead annually and is one of Europe's main lead producers. It filed for insolvency in May after the coronavirus crisis cut metal demand.

Weser-Metall, previously part of French metals producer Recylex <RXPA.PA>, stopped production over the weekend.

Creditors had earlier said they planned to start negotiations with possible buyers in July.

A meeting of creditors on Tuesday decided the process to find a potential buyer was ended, a statement said.

“The negotiations about the continuation of the company will with immediate effect take place with Glencore only.” it said.

A takeover by Glencore could also depend on negotiations with the German regional government of Lower Saxony, which includes the plant, about liabilities for past environmental pollution from the plant.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Mark Potter)