Turnover at Alro Group declined in H1 2023

The Romanian aluminium producer Alro, a prominent vertically integrated aluminium producer in Europe, has released its combined and individual financial outcomes for H1 2023, concluding on June 30th. During this period, the collective revenue of the organization declined to 1.55 billion RON, as opposed to the previous figure of 2.1 billion RON. This reduction was attributable to diminished LME valuations and the temporary closure of the ALUM alumina refinery. Over the same span, the Group incurred a net deficit of 164 million RON, contrasting with a net gain of 15.3 million RON in the corresponding period of 2022.

Marian Năstase, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at ALRO, said, “Over the past 20 years, we invested more than USD 530 million in ALRO’s development and transformation, and we are committed to continue on this path. While we temporarily stopped the production of alumina, based on economic factors, decided to sell the bauxite business for the same reasons, and reduced the electrolytic aluminium production, we invested in our eco-recycling facility to support the production of aluminium with low electricity input."

"In fact, in June, we inaugurated a USD 11 million investment in technology and environment protections at the eco-recycling facility that will help us increase the output, positively impacting production costs. We also continued our focus on the long-term programme to increase product efficiency by purchasing an aluminium plate processing line to process our products as close as possible to customer size requirements, thus being even closer to our clients and their needs.”

“And we will continue our long-term strategy focused on the same principles that have supported our business so far and that helped us adapt quicker to all the changes and the downturns of the international aluminium environment while preserving and expanding our client pool and our ever-more sophisticated products portfolio,” added Marian Năstase.

The Group's combined revenues in the first half of 2023 reached 1.55 billion RON, exhibiting a 25 per cent decrease when contrasted with the figures from a comparable period in 2022. This reduction can be attributed, in part, to the decreased LME quotation, which observed a decline of over USD$ 700 per tonne in comparison to the same period the previous year. Additionally, 2023 was marked by sluggish sales and diminished demand across numerous industrial domains.

The Group persisted in its commitment to enhancing energy efficiency. After injecting $11 million into the Eco-Recycling facility, they initiated operations for the second double-chamber furnace. This furnace is designed to recycle scrap acquired from the specialized market. As the year draws to a close, plans are underway to commission the third furnace. This strategic move will elevate the Company's recycling capacity to 100,000 tonnes annually by the end of 2023.

The 2023 investment program also seeks to enhance the production of advanced aluminium products for industries like aerospace and automotive, focusing on high and very high-quality offerings.

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