Russian aluminium producer Rusal’s sales fell in the second quarter from a year earlier as the Covid-19 pandemic hit industrial activity. But the firm shipped a significantly higher proportion to Asia owing to less restrictive regional lockdown measures and relatively high Chinese prices.
Rusal sold 976,000t of aluminium in April-June, down by 9.6pc on the year but up by 6.8pc from the first quarter, as some markets recovered from the lockdown period, particularly in Asia. The proportion of Rusal’s sales to Asia reached 27pc, up from 15pc in the first three months of the year. Sales to Europe fell to 46pc of the mix from 55pc the previous quarter.
“This shift reflects less severe lockdown measures in Asia and one-off arbitrage opportunity in China,” the company said.
Shanghai Futures Exchange aluminium prices rose by 23pc in April-June, while prices on London’s LME exchange rose by only about 8pc. As a result, China’s aluminium imports surged to an 11-year high in June as trading companies took advantage of the arbitrage.
Value-added sales as a proportion of total sales were broadly flat on the year, but fell on the quarter as premiums dipped amid the pandemic. Value-added product sales made up 37pc of the total in the second quarter, compared with 46pc in the first quarter.
Rusal produced 927,000t of aluminium in the second quarter, down by 1.2pc from a year earlier and by 1.4pc from the previous quarter. Alumina production reached just above 2mn t in April-June, up by 4.6pc on the year, while bauxite output was down by 8.2pc on the year at 3.9mn t.
www.ferroalloynet.com
