July 3 (SeeNews) - Sales of Sofia-listed aluminium rollings and extrusions producer Alcomet fell by almost one-third on the year to 77.5 million levs ($55.4 million/39.6 million euro) in the first half of 2009 mainly due to lower international aluminium prices, a senior company official said on Friday.
Global aluminum prices fell sharply at the end of last year and the beginning of 2009, which made Alcomet cut the price of its output, the company's investor relations officer Ivan Dinev told SeeNews by telephone from the northeastern city of Shumen, where the plant is based.
The company manufactured and sold 19,500 tonnes of products in the first half of this year, compared to some 22,400 tonnes a year ago, he added.
Sales in the first quarter of this year were very weak due to the effects of global recession and the suspension of Russian gas supplies, Dinev said. Bulgarian industrial producers was severely hit in January when a contractual row between Russia and Ukraine led to a two-week halt of Russian gas deliveries to most of Europe, including Bulgaria.
Alcomet succeeded in raising sales in the second quarter of the year when they reached 10,152 tonnes, compared to 10,986 tonnes for the year-ago period, Dinev said.
It produced and sold 3,850 tonnes for 14.6 million levs in June, he added.
June sales volumes rose by 27.7% on the month, while sales volumes in the first quarter were 8.7% higher than in the previous quarter.
Alcomet sold 43,335 tonnes of products last year, down 6.6%. Its 2008 sales revenue fell 10.8% to 218.8 million levs.
INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
Despite the ongoing economic crisis Alcomet's investment programme is on track, Dinev said.
Earlier this month the company put into operation equipment worth 330,000 levs, aiming at environmental and quality improvement, Dinev said.
He added that Alcomet plans to put in operation a new line worth sevaral million euro in late November but did not elaborate.
The company has said it plans to invest 7.2 million levs this year, compared to 7.4 million levs it invested in 2008.
Last August Alcomet's executive director Fikret Ince told SeeNews that the company was considering investing 50 million euro with the aim to double output to 100,000 tonnes by 2011.
A consortium of Turkey's FAF Metal Ltd and Bulgaria's Alumina Invest, a company set up by the managers and employees of Alcomet, former Alumina, bough the company from the Bulgarian state in 1999. FAF Metal now owns 16.86% of Alcomet, and Alumetal, in which FAF Metal holds a stake, has 73.25%.
Alcomet shares last traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange on Thursday, when they closed at 1.61 levs, down 4.6% from the previous day.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)