July 31: Rexam, the world’s largest beverage canmaker, expects its risk of exposure to aluminium prices to fall as more customers in Europe agree a pass-through of metal costs and as aluminium prices stabilise.
The company’s profit in the first half of 2007 was hit by high costs for aluminium, a strike at nine US plants and a weak US dollar, Rexam said in London this morning.
Profit before tax was £98m (US$198.5m) compared to £121m ($245m) in the first half 2006, while sales from ongoing operations rose 5 percent year-on-year to £1.66bn ($3.37bn).
“The price of aluminium remained at an average of $2,770 per tonne for the first six months of the year. For the remainder of 2007, we have exposure to around 70,000 tonnes and are forecasting a price of between $2,600 and $2,700 per tonne. However, we expect the aluminium exposure risk to reduce over time,” said a company statement.
