Reuters
Bosnia's Aluminij sees $6.6 mln loss in 2012
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
2 min read
Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter, Aluminij Mostar, expects to lose 10 million Bosnian marka ($6.7 million) this year, but that would rise if electricity prices go up, its general manager said on Tuesday.
Ivo Bradvica said Aluminij recorded a small profit of 1.2 million marka last year and forecast a nearly 10 million marka loss this year as the price of the metal remains low while raw materials and electricity prices rise.
"But this loss has been planned calculating the price of the electricity at 48 euros per meggawatt-hour, and even the smallest rise in the price would be unbearable for us," Bradvica said in an interview for the company's annual magazine.
Aluminij, based in the southern town of Mostar, is Bosnia's top exporter, with annual output of around 160,000 tonnes of metal. It has constantly complained of high power prices, asking the state to subside prices for strategic companies.
A regional power regulator in February allowed Elektroprivreda HZHB (EPHZHB), Bosnia's smallest power utility, to raise prices by up to 30 percent after if it was forced to turn to expensive imports to make up for a shortfall caused by record low water levels last year.
The EPHZHB, which supplies Aluminij with 125 MWh a year, rose the price for Aluminij by 12 percent, Bradvica said, adding that the smelter sued the utility over mismanagement.
Bradvica said Croatia's state power utility HEP has recognised Aluminij as a strategic partner and decided to supply it with 100 MWh under favourable prices this year. Croatia's TLM company owns a 12 percent stake in Aluminij.
Bradvica said, however, that he hoped that Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation government, which owns a stake in the smelter, would come out with a favourable solution over power supplies.
Aluminij aims to finish an upgrade of its foundry in 2012 to boost annual output by 30,000 tonnes, for which the main buyer will be its long-time partner Glencore International, Bradvica said.
Much of its output goes to the construction and auto industries in the European Union.
Ivo Bradvica said Aluminij recorded a small profit of 1.2 million marka last year and forecast a nearly 10 million marka loss this year as the price of the metal remains low while raw materials and electricity prices rise.
"But this loss has been planned calculating the price of the electricity at 48 euros per meggawatt-hour, and even the smallest rise in the price would be unbearable for us," Bradvica said in an interview for the company's annual magazine.
Aluminij, based in the southern town of Mostar, is Bosnia's top exporter, with annual output of around 160,000 tonnes of metal. It has constantly complained of high power prices, asking the state to subside prices for strategic companies.
A regional power regulator in February allowed Elektroprivreda HZHB (EPHZHB), Bosnia's smallest power utility, to raise prices by up to 30 percent after if it was forced to turn to expensive imports to make up for a shortfall caused by record low water levels last year.
The EPHZHB, which supplies Aluminij with 125 MWh a year, rose the price for Aluminij by 12 percent, Bradvica said, adding that the smelter sued the utility over mismanagement.
Bradvica said Croatia's state power utility HEP has recognised Aluminij as a strategic partner and decided to supply it with 100 MWh under favourable prices this year. Croatia's TLM company owns a 12 percent stake in Aluminij.
Bradvica said, however, that he hoped that Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation government, which owns a stake in the smelter, would come out with a favourable solution over power supplies.
Aluminij aims to finish an upgrade of its foundry in 2012 to boost annual output by 30,000 tonnes, for which the main buyer will be its long-time partner Glencore International, Bradvica said.
Much of its output goes to the construction and auto industries in the European Union.
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