Russian aluminum giant Rusal said on Friday it was hit by international sanctions that particularly caused sluggish Russian demand, and announced a sharp fall in first-half net profit.
• Also read: Russia: The journalist directed against the offensive in Ukraine is under house arrest
• Also read: A kangaroo tries to break into the Russian embassy
Net income for the first half fell 16.7% year over year to $1.68 billion, according to a statement released on Friday.
Founded by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, the group points out that “rising geopolitical tensions have significantly increased volatility in commodity and foreign exchange markets since February 2022.”
These tensions, caused by the Russian offensive in Ukraine that has been ongoing since February 24 and the subsequent international sanctions against Moscow, “have adversely affected the activities of Russian companies in various sectors of the economy and led to a drop in demand for aluminum in Russia “, the statement said.
In addition, Australia’s ban on exports of alumina, which is then used to produce aluminium, and the suspension of production at the alumina refinery in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, “adversely impacted supplies of raw materials for aluminum production and increased costs has led,” he specifies.
The Russian group “is committed to overhauling its supply chain,” the press release said.
“Investment projects and modernization programs for production facilities could themselves be postponed due to supply difficulties,” he adds.
Very many Russian economic actors face serious problems in supplying equipment and spare parts, the sale of which to Russia has been banned.
They are also struggling to import or export as international logistics and financial chains have been partially paralyzed by retaliatory measures imposed by Europe and the United States.
However, the Hong Kong-listed Russian aluminum giant’s first-half sales rose 31.3% to $7.2 billion in the first half.