Low prices and losses from the new export duty may urge the company to close down unprofitable assets, Interfax reports.
According to experts interviewed by the news agency, these are three enterprises in Volgograd, Kandalaksha and Novokuznetsk.
As the analysts explained, costs at these enterprises are quite substantial in terms of capacity. Due to alumina supply issues, logistics have become much more expensive. Previously, these plants used raw materials from the Nikolaev alumina plant (Ukraine) and from Australia.
However, in 2022, deliveries stopped for obvious reasons. A replacement for bauxite was found, but logistics turned out to be expensive, which did not have the best effect on the economics of these projects.
In addition, Novelis Europe will stop purchasing Russian products from 2024. And in general, aluminum export from Russia is declining. In the first nine months of this year, it decreased by 4.8%. Profits fell by 54% over the same period due to low prices and high costs.
Rusal did not provide comments to Interfax about the possible closure of the plants.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
