Aluminium Bahrain sales fall 17% in war-disrupted Q1

Aluminium Bahrain, known as Alba, said on Tuesday its sales volumes fell by 17% year on year in the first quarter to 312,563 metric tons as the war in the Middle East from the end of February disrupted shipping routes.

Alba’s net finished aluminum production was down 14% to 339,734 tons in the first three months of the year, with the company deciding to shut 19% of capacity in mid-March due to closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Days later, the company’s smelter was targeted by an Iranian attack at the end of the month.

Alba, with annual smelting capacity of 1.6 million tons per year, said in an earnings release it continues to closely monitor inventory levels as it looks to optimise use of raw material alumina.

The company is deploying diversified sourcing strategies and flexible logistics to maintain operations, it said, using “multiple regional ports” and “multimodal transport routes” for imports of raw materials and exports of metal.

Alba said in March it was routing up to 60% of its aluminium exports via the Saudi port of Jeddah.

The company also said on Tuesday it signed a share purchase agreement on May 6 to acquire European smelter Aluminium Dunkerque, having announced talks to buy out the current owner, U.S. fund AIP, on March 2.

Despite the drop in volumes, Alba’s net profit rose by 316% year on year to 75.3 million Bahraini dinars ($199.7 million), buoyed by higher aluminium prices CMAL3.

($1 = 0.3771 Bahraini dinars)

(Reporting by Tom Daly; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt)