Alba increases production and sales in Q1
INDUSTRIAL NEWS
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), set to become the largest smelter in the world, has expanded its overall sales volume and throughput for the first quarter of 2019 despite the downward pressure on LME prices, the company said.
The sales volume topped 257,113 metric tonnes (mt) in this quarter, up by 2% year-on-year (YoY), while the production jumped to 272,707 mt, up by 5% YoY. Alba closed this quarter with value-added (VA) sales averaging 52% of total shipments versus 58% for the same period in 2018.
Alba’s chief executive officer Tim Murray said: “We are very pleased to have kicked off 2019 strong despite market volatility. As we get closer to fully ramp-up Line 6 within Q3 2019, Alba will be positioned to further improve its operational performance and build upon the progress we made since we started Line 6 Expansion Project.”
Alba will release its first quarter 2019 financial results to the public on April 30.
The Line 6 Expansion Project will make Alba the world’s largest aluminium smelter. With the first hot metal from Potline 6 achieved on December 13, 2018, Alba is now amongst the 1 million-metric tonne smelters in the world. Upon completion in 2019, the Line 6 Expansion Project will boost Alba’s per-annum production by 540,000 metric tonnes, bringing Alba’s total production capacity to 1.5 million metric tonnes per year. – TradeArabia News Service
