Constellium to keep buying aluminium from Rusal - executive (updated)

Constellium SE

15/09/2022 12:38

(Adds details, background)
    By Joan Faus
    BARCELONA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Major aluminium consumer
Constellium's  3OK.F  current plan is to keep buying from
Russia's Rusal next year as it did in 2022, since it has not
been put under sanctions, a Constellium executive told Reuters
on Thursday.
     Aluminium producer Rusal's metals account for less than 5%
of Constellium's overall purchases, the executive said, speaking
under the condition of anonymity, adding that the share for 2023
would be similar but no final purchasing decision has been made.
    "If there is any sanction we will respect it, today there is
no sanction so we don't see any reason why we should not get
metal from there," the Constellium executive said. "I guess if
the economics are good we will continue to work with them". 
    Hong-Kong listed Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium
producer outside China, along with Russian aluminium have not
been directly targeted by Western sanctions imposed on Moscow
since it sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. 
    Nevertheless, some buyers have decided to look elsewhere.
Novelis, a division of Norsk Hydro and one of the world’s
largest buyers of aluminium, has said it will not accept Russian
metal in its European factories in 2023.
    "We have hundreds of clients globally, representing one of
the strongest and most diverse customer bases in the industry.
Our business is not defined by those few who choose to buy their
aluminium elsewhere," a Rusal representative told Reuters.
    The Constellium executive dismissed any potential
reputational damage and was unaware of any potential discounts
offered by Rusal.
    Some clients of Rusal are securing discounts due to the risk
 exports could be hit by potential sanctions, a European trader
and a Gulf-based producer told Reuters on the sidelines of an
aluminium conference in Barcelona on Wednesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N30L1M7
    Constellium's second quarter revenue rose by 50% to 2.3
billion euros ($2.29 billion) while it posted a quarterly net
loss of 32 million euros.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASA03HM5
($1 = 1.0023 euros)

 (Reporting by Joan Faus, editing by Pratima Desai and Elaine
Hardcastle)
 ((joan.faus@thomsonreuters.com;))