Press Metal on track to be a global player

Press Metal Bhd, which is on track to become the largest aluminium smelter in the region by the end of the year, recorded a profit of RM42mil on the back of a record turnover of RM1.1bil in the final quarter of its operations in 2014.

With its smelting plants in Mukah and Bintulu in Sarawak running at full capacity, Press Metal registered a record turnover of RM4.1bil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 and a profit of RM212.7mil.

Last year, Press Metal, which had been hit by the shutdown of its aluminium smelting plant in Mukah due to an electricity outage, posted a loss of RM28.7mil on a turnover of RM807.6mil in the fourth quarter, while for the whole year, its net profit was RM15mil on a turnover of RM3.1bil.

The Mukah plant resumed operations in April last year after having been shut down since June 2013.

The smelting company also attributed the turnaround to a higher metal selling price during the quarter in review.

Press Metal said that if not for a mark-to-market unrealised foreign exchange loss on its US dollar-denominated borrowings amounting to RM95.3mil, the company’s pre-tax profit for 2014 would have been RM392.3mil.

Press Metal said that it was on track to complete the expansion of its production capacity by the fourth quarter of this year.

The commissioning of the new plants would increase its capacity by 73% to 760,000 tonnes, making it the largest aluminium smelter in the region and one of the largest in the world.

Press Metal, which started primarily in Selangor as an aluminium extrusion company, was the first to build an aluminium smelter in Sarawak, taking advantage of the cheap electricity in the state.