The week in business: 29 April
US Embassy to move to larger building, Nyrstar sells off mines and an overview of the rest of the week's business snews
Mining – Nyrstar
Property – US Embassy
The US embassy in central Brussels is believed to have acquired a new premises: the 54,000 square-metre AXA building on Vorstlaan in Watermaal-Bosvoorde. A move is not expected before 2020 as the building needs to be extensively renovated.
Air – Lufthansa
The German carrier, which owns 45% of Brussels Airlines, has postponed its decision on acquiring the other 55% of the company until after the summer to allow the carrier to “recover” from the recent events at Brussels Airport.
Biotech – ArGEN-X
The Ghent-based bio-technology company has signed a $40 million (€35 million) contract with the US pharmaceutical group AbbVie to develop a new cancer drug.
Materials – Umicore
The Brussels-based materials technology and recycling group is investing €160 million in its plants in Cheonan, South Korea, and Jiangmen, China, to triple the capacity of its production of reloadable NMC (nickel, manganese, cobalt) batteries. The new lines should come on stream in late 2017.
Salvage – Flinterstar
The wreck of the Dutch-owned cargo ship Flinterstar, which sank off Zeebrugge last October, is to be salvaged by a consortium of Flemish companies Deme, Jan De Nul and Herbosch-Kiere.
Chemicals – Solvay
The Brussels-based chemicals group is believed to have won the €100 million contract to supply polymers for the next generation of iPhones, entering production shortly. The company has been supplying Apple for the last three years with polymers to protect the inner components of the iPhone 5.
