Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, has reported a net income of BD33.9 million ($90 million) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2018, compared to BD25.6 million ($68 million) in Q1 2017, an increase of 32 per cent year-on-year.

Alba’s top-line and bottom-line performance for the first quarter of 2018 were driven primarily by 17 per cent YoY increase in London Metal Exchange (LME) prices coupled with favourable management performance, said a statement.

The company’s total sales stretched by 16 per cent YoY to reach BD221.3 million ($588 million) compared to BD190.4 million ($506 million) in Q1 2017, it said.

During the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held on March 7, Alba approved a dividend of BD36.8 million ($98 million) and paid on March 21.

Some of Alba’s highlights for Q1 include: driving continuous improvement in plant safety with the launch of ‘Safety ABC’ campaign; sales volume up by 3.6 per cent YoY (251,637 mt) and production up by 4.3 per cent YoY (259,399 mt); value-added sales averaged 58 per cent of total shipments (versus 56 per cent in Q1 2017); the achieved benefits of Titan – Phase III are $41/MT; Line 6 on track; Line 6 Smelter (overall progress: 49 per cent); Power Expansion Project (PS 5 and PDS overall progress: 58 per cent and 82 per cent).

Alba’s industry highlights for Q1:
•Global physical demand is to set to maintain the momentum with world consumption up by 4 per cent YoY. Asian demand rose by 5 per cent YoY mainly supported by Chinese demand (+5 per cent YoY). Middle East and North Africa (Mena) demand rose up by 8 per cent YoY on the back of major infrastructure spending in Saudi Arabia (+18 per cent YoY). North America continues to report solid demand (+3% YoY) supported by auto production. Europe consumption up by 3 per cent YoY due to strong demand in transport (auto body sheet) and construction sectors.
•Global production growth almost flat leading the world market to be in surplus with China (+22 Kt) and in deficit w/o China (-533 Kt). Chinese supply dips by ~1.5 per cent YoY due to slower ramp-ups and winter closure restarts while North America supply dropped by 5 per cent YoY.
•LME inventories at ~1.3 million mt as of March-end.
•LME cash-average for the first quarter of 2018 was $2,159/t.

Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, chairman of Alba’s board of directors, said: “Our company was off to a strong start in 2018 thanks to a solid operational performance.”

“We intend to leverage this strong start as we progress with the construction of Line 6 Expansion Project,” he said.

“We also look forward to fully secure the 2nd tranche of ECA-covered facility,” he added.

Tim Murray, Alba’s chief executive officer, added: “We continue to focus on resilience and were able to leverage the gains in LME prices to deliver solid bottom-line results.”

“I would like to thank our dedicated workforce for their contributions in achieving this success,” he added.

Alba's management will be holding a conference call on April 30, to discuss the company’s financial performance for the first quarter of 2018 as well as outline the company's priorities for the remainder of the year, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service