Japan aluminium roller UACJ removes Rusal from 2019 suppliers list -president
01/11/2018 10:52
TOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Japan's top aluminium rolling
company UACJ Corp 5741.T is removing Rusal 0486.HK from its
suppliers list for next year due to uncertainty over U.S.
sanction against the Russian aluminium producer, its president
said on Thursday.
"Given uncertainty over (the U.S. sanctions against) Rusal,
we are removing Rusal for now from the list of suppliers from
which we plan to procure aluminium ingots next year," UACJ
President Miyuki Ishihara told an earnings news conference.
"But we have secured enough supplies from other sources,"
Ishihara said. The Japanese manufacturer, which sells products
to can makers and automakers among others, is also testing out
alumunium produced by other alternative suppliers, he said.
The U.S. Treasury Department in April imposed sanctions
against billionaire Oleg Deripaska and eight companies in which
he is a large shareholder, including aluminium exporter Rusal,
citing "malign activities" by Russia.
The sanctions have been postponed several times since then
as the United States considers removing Rusal, the world's
second-biggest aluminium producer, from the U.S. blacklist if
Deripaska drops his control over the company.
The sanctions deadline has been last extended to Dec. 12.
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But Ishihara suggested that UACJ may resume trade with Rusal
once the sanctions are lifted.
"We hope to resume procurement from Rusal depending on the
sanction's situation," he said.
UACJ reported a 41 percent drop in recurring profit for the
April-September period on higher energy costs and a one-off
spike in depreciation expense, but stuck to its full-year
forecast of a 3 percent profit increase. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nXB1MHTEY1
Ishihara said the U.S. import tariffs on aluminium, imposed
in March, have limited impact on its export as its U.S. export
is small and some of its products have been exempted.
But the company is worried that Chinese aluminium supplies
that are pushed out from the U.S. market may eventually head to
the rest of Asia, including Japan, which could weigh on the
metal products prices in the region, Takayoshi Nakano, UACJ's
senior managing executive officer, said.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Tom Hogue)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1798; Reuters
Messaging: yuka.obayashi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))