Rusal’s aluminium production increases by 1.3% Q-o-Q to 939,000t in Q3 2020, VAP sales rise by 25.4%

Rusal announced that its aluminium production in the third quarter of 2020 totalled 939,000 tonnes, increasing by 1.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter from 927,000 tonnes in Q2. Siberian smelters represented 93% of the output. Rusal’s aluminium production increased in the third quarter after a drop in the earlier quarter by 1.4 per cent Q-o-Q.

Aluminium sales continued to rise quarter-on-quarter, albeit slower than the previous quarter, to amount to 1.008 million tonnes in Q3 2020 versus 976,000 tonnes in Q2. In the September quarter, sales volume increased by 3.3 per cent, while in the June quarter it raised by 6.8 per cent.

Sales of value added products also increased quarter-on-quarter by 25.4 per cent to 455,000 tonnes, demonstrating a recovery of VAP share in total sales mix to 45 per cent in Q3 2020, compared to 37 per cent in Q2 2020.

In Q3, Rusal continued to successfully adjust its regional sales geography in line with existing markets conditions. While the European destination decreased in share to 37 per cent versus 46 per cent in Q2, Asia’s and Russia & CIS’s sales grew to 32 per cent from 27 per cent and to 24 per cent from 20 per cent in the quarter ago, respectively.

In Q3, the average aluminium realized price increased by 6.5 per cent Q-o-Q to US$ 1,762 per tonne, driven by the global aluminium benchmark price hike on the London Metal Exchange and rise in average realized premium component. The increase of realized premium during Q3 was attributed to the growth of the VAP share in product sales mix and a positive shift in VAP upcharge, reflecting the gradual recovery of the global market conditions.