
【Ferro-alloys.com】: Nanshan Aluminum International Holdings, a company backed by Glencore, declined in its Hong Kong trading debut, with sentiment for the top alumina producer in Southeast Asia impacted by falling prices for the metal.
Shares were down 1% to HK$26.35 apiece as of 10:27 a.m. local time during the first day of its initial public offering, after rising as much as 1.1% earlier. The newly listed unit of China’s Nanshan Group will use the sale’s proceeds to expand production in Indonesia and for general working capital.
Prices of alumina, the feedstock for aluminum production, more than doubled during 2024 to a record high. They’ve since dived as new capacity is brought online. The industry’s response follows a string of disruptions along the sprawling global supply chain, from Jamaica to Guinea, Australia and China.
The company’s earnings outlook “isn’t particularly promising” due to the fall in alumina prices, despite its undemanding valuation, according to Michelle Leung, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.
Glencore International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore Plc, is among its cornerstone investors and one of its top customers. The two companies entered an offtake agreement in January, according to the prospectus.
Indonesia’s alumina industry is set to expand at a rapid clip this year following a 2023 ban on the export of key raw material bauxite. Several Chinese companies have already built refineries in the Southeast Asian country, seeking to diversify their supplies away from key producer Guinea.
Alongside Nanshan’s second phase of expansion, Indonesia’s state aluminum unit started trial production from a new alumina refinery in January.
- [Editor:Alakay]
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