German lead producer Weser-Metall GmbH has received interest from a "large number" of potential buyers and plans to start negotiations over a sale next month, the administrator for the insolvent firm said on Monday.

The Nordenham-based group, which is owned by French metals producer Recylex, is one of Europe's main lead producers with output of about 105,000 tonnes annually. It filed for insolvency in May.

It is currently working under self-administration, which means Recylex no longer has control of the company.

"There are large numbers of interested parties in Weser-Metall," Dirk Schoene, the administrator appointed to supervise the process, said in a statement.

Informal purchase offers should be submitted by mid June and it is planned to start negotiations with potential purchases from mid July, Schoene said.

Weser-Metall has resumed production but demand is currently very low because of the impact of the coronavirus crisis, Chief Executive Koen Demesmaeker in the statement.

"Demand in the lead sector is highly dependent on production in the automobile sector," Demesmaeker said. "Currently only about 50% of the usual volumes are in demand."

(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Jan Harvey)