Metallurgical Alro-Alprom Group estimates to see sales up to $400 million in 2004, from the $350 million last year. The growth will be achieved once the production of both Alro and Alprom has increased and the integration of the two companies is complete, Peter Braun, Alro’s vice-president and representative of the two companies’ main shareholder, Marco International trader, told Ziarul Financiar.
Marco bought Alro and Alprom in 2002 and will begin procedures to merge them this year. The merger will result in an integrated aluminium group that should theoretically lead to a decline in the consolidated turnover at first, because Alprom is one of Alro’s main clients, as it processes the aluminium supplied by the latter.
“The 2004 spending and revenue budgets have not been approved yet but we expect Alro’s production to go up from 196,000 tonnes/year to 205,000 tonnes/year and Alprom’s from 30,000 tonnes/year to 39,000 tonnes/year. We also anticipate the aluminium quote to maintain as it is,” Braun says.
The aluminium price on the international market has surged over the last two years, given the world economy rebound. Whereas aluminium was trading for $1,300-$1,350/tonne in 2001, it is now trading for about $1,630/tonne.
Compared with 2002, however, Alro’s turnover has remained constant, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $300 million.
“The price increase was not much help, as the dollar depreciated against both the euro and the ROL. This trend cancelled out both the increase in Alro’s output from 187,000 tonnes in 2002 to 196,000 tonnes and the rise in aluminium’s quote,” Braun said.
Alro exports about 75% of its total output to the foreign markets, and the main currency for its operation is the US dollar.
The stagnation of Alro’s turnover was also caused by the fact that it no longer sold bauxite in 2003. In 2002, Alro Slatina’s only alumina (the raw material from which aluminium is obtained) supplier was Alum Tulcea. The latter’s cash flow problems had made Alro buy the bauxite required for alumina production and sell it to the Tulcea-based company.
As of this year, however, Alro is importing alumina, due to differences with its long-time supplier.
Alro and Alprom’s profit for 2003 has yet to be calculated, but the financial results for the first three quarters point to a 20% profitability rate in Alro’s case.
laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro