Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a leading international aluminium smelter, has successfully upgraded its Casthouse 2 to produce T-Ingot foundry alloy for the first time, which will significantly boost its value-added product portfolio.

Alba’s Casthouse Department, in cooperation with Customer Technical Support and Marketing Departments, accomplished this feat following a series of enhancements to the existing facilities and by relying solely on in-house expertise as well as capitalising on the existing resources, said a statement from the company.

Foundry alloy ingots, one of Alba’s high-margin value-added products, offer a range of benefits in extrusion operations, especially for downstream users, it said.

Alba’s chief executive officer Tim Murray, said: “Value-added sales is a key priority for our smelter in line with its strategic growth roadmap as it grants the company higher flexibility to optimise its product portfolio and ultimately, secure higher market share in a global fluctuating market.”

“We remain continually focussed on developing a cost effective, value-added portfolio that cater to the growing demand of various global sectors such as automotive, aerospace and packaging,” he said.

“I congratulate and thank the teams who made this achievement possible in an innovative and safe way,” he added.

Earlier, the company reported total sales of BD174.3 million ($463.5 million) for the third quarter of 2016, a 5 per cent decrease in comparison to BD184.4 million ($490.4 million) for the same period in 2015.

For the nine months of 2016, total sales stood at BD496.5 million ($1.32 billion), down by 16 per cent  versus BD590.3 million ($1.57 billion) for the same period last year, on the back of dual drop in London Metal Exchange (LME) and premium prices, said a statement from the company.

Net income for the third quarter increased by 65 per cent to BD14.3 million ($38.1 million) versus BD8.7 million ($23 million) in Q3 2015, it said.

The company posted a net income of BD34.8 million ($92.6 million) for the nine months of 2016 versus BD75.7 million ($201 million), down by 54 per cent due to lower LME and premium prices, it added.”

Alba was able to increase its sales volume by 3.1 per cent YoY, while production was up by 2.4 per cent YoY. Value-added sales averaged 58 per cent of total shipments in Q3.

The company successfully closed $1.5 billion syndicated term-loan facility for its Line 6 facility and the PS5 EPC contract was awarded to GE and Gama Consortium during the period. The L6 Power Distribution System (PDS) contract was awarded to Siemens.

Commenting on the results, Alba’s chairman Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, said: “I would like to thank all our employees and contractors on completing a safe summer. Alba continues to raise the bar in a challenging environment and was able to maintain its performance on many fronts.”

“And as we move ahead, we look forward to secure the ECA financing tranche for Line 6,” he added.

Alba’s chief executive officer Tim Murray, added: “Our company was able to raise net income on the back of a solid operational performance despite a relatively weak physical premium environment.”-

Meanwhile, the company held a meeting with its management team to discuss the progress of their respective departments’ objectives for 2016.

The ‘2016 Expectations Review’ meeting was held at the Alba Club, in Riffa, Manama.

Executive development is a critical part of Alba’s leadership strategy, and numerous programmes and trainings are designed and orchestrated throughout the year to develop and prepare the company’s management for future growth, said the company in a statement.

The meeting was mainly conducted to appraise the company’s executives and directors on the progress of their respective departments’ objectives for 2016 in the subcategories of safety, cost reduction, Line 6 Expansion Project and others.