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MOSCOW, March 17 (Reuters) - Rusal's 2022 net profit fell by around 44%, the Russian aluminium giant said on Friday, as it faced logistics challenges, increased costs and market volatility sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.
The world's largest aluminium producer outside of China has faced problems in the wake of Moscow despatching troops to Ukraine last February. It was hit by a production halt at an alumina refinery in Ukraine and an Australian ban on exports of alumina and bauxite to Russia. It said production costs jumped 31.8% to $2,190 per tonne from $1,661 a year earlier. The cost of purchasing alumina leapt by 149.3%, it said, as the company sought new suppliers.
The Mykolaiv Alumina Refinery was nationalised by Ukraine in February 2023. Rusal is planning to appeal the decision of the High Anticorruption Court of Ukraine, it said, but wrote off the refinery's assets as of Dec. 31, 2022. Rusal reported a profit of $1.79 billion, down from $3.23 billion a year earlier. Glencore will not renew a $16 billion deal to buy aluminium Rusal when it expires next year, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. A company spokesperson confirmed the content of the report to Reuters. (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Alexander Marrow; editing by Jason Neely)
