Aluminium Bahrain’s (Alba’s) profits increased 14-fold in H1 2021 and six-fold in the second quarter owing to better production and 61pc higher LME Aluminium prices through the period.
The company also noted that its major markets like North America, Europe, and the Middle East have seen double digit recoveries in demand and consumption.
Alba continues to focus on its 1.54mn mt production target for this year. In H1 2021, the firm’s aluminum output increased 0.9pc to a record high of 773,887mt against 767,195mt in the same period of 2020. In the second quarter, production rose 3.5pc to 391,954mt over 378,558mt in Q2 2020. Alba credited the increase to the Line 6 expansion project at its smelter. The company’s sales fell 1pc to 388,149mt in Q2 2021 compared to the prior year quarter.
For H1 2021, Alba posted a profit of BHD144.8mn ($385mn), compared with a loss of BHD28.8mn in the prior year period. During Q2, the smelter made a profit of BHD92.6mn, compared with a loss of BHD16.4mn in Q2 2020.
(BHD1=$2.65)