Reuters reported that Aluminum Corporation of China posted a worse than expected net annual loss of CNY 8.2 billion hit by low aluminium prices and rising costs.
China's top aluminium producer had warned of a full year loss in January but the 2012 loss announced was far deeper than the CNY 4.78 billion average forecast in a Thomson Reuters poll of analysts and compared with a net profit of CNY 237.97 million per year ago.
Mr Xiong Weiping chairman of Chalco said that "An acute and complicated operational environment with a surplus in production capacity, slumping prices, declining ore quality and restrictions to the supply of imported bauxite.”
In 2012 the average three-month aluminium futures price on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 14.9% and 6.5% respectively compared with 2011. Chalco expects oversupply pressures to remain strong this year and said it is planning to accelerate cost cuts and measures to increase efficiency.
Last week, Chalco signed an preliminary agreement with Russia's United Company RUSAL to work together in areas including technological research, the development of bauxite resources and investment in integrated hydro powered aluminium production.
For the Q4 the company posted a net loss of CNY 3.9 billion compared with net loss of CNY 729.6 million in the same period in 2011.
According, Chalco's Hong Kong listed shares ended up 0.32% before the results were announced. They are down 11.8% so far this year, against a 0.85% loss on the broader Hang Seng index over the same period.
