Bosnian Aluminium producer Aluminij inks five-year deal with Glencore for supply of billets

Bosnian and Herzegovinian aluminium producer Aluminij signed a five-year contract with Glencore, the British-Swiss company for the supply of aluminium billets.

The synergy between Aluminij and Glencore is consequential for both companies, as their alliance goes back long before last year's suspension of Aluminij's operations.

However, details about the financial aspects of the deal or the agreed volume of aluminium billets are yet to be disclosed.

The troubled Aluminij resumed production last month, following a 15-month halt and the credit goes to the agreement with an Israeli-Chinese tie-up.

Aluminij Industries d.o.o., the newly established Bosnian subsidiary of Israel's M.T. Abraham Group and its partners, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. (NFC).

Aluminij Industries signed an agreement with Mostar-based Aluminij for a long-term lease of its production assets, in April’20, opening the way for its recent production restart.

Amir Gross Kabiri, Head of M.T. Abraham Group, said: "We worked hard in the past months. First, we employed a large number of workers within a short period, restarted production, went through a certification process, signed two important contracts and will continue to do all to preserve the stability of the company.”

The official resumption of production at Aluminij's foundry plant, which was the first unit to go back online, took place at the beginning of November, with M.T. Abraham Group employing some 130 of Aluminij's former workers.

The present employer plans to hike the number of workers at Aluminij to 170 by the end of the year.

Aluminij Industries signed a strategic partnership deal in October’20 with Dubai-based global commodity trading group Advaita, which agreed to buy half of Aluminij's output in the next ten years.

The Federation government controls 44% stake in Aluminij, followed by the government of neighbouring Croatia with 12%, with the remainder owned by minor shareholders. The Federation is one of two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.