The Indonesian-based holding company that engaged in the manufacturing and trading business of aluminium extrusion-based building and household materials, PT HK Metals Utama Tbk (HKMU) positively welcomes the Joko Widodo government's plan to cautiously halt the export trade of bauxite among other raw materials. This proposal is believed to deliver the recovery of the aluminium industry with much promptness.
Jodi Pujiyono, the Director and Corporate Secretary of HK Metals Utama said: “The Company welcomes the government's plan to stop bauxite exports. This is a form of real government support for manufacturing industry players, especially aluminium whose conditions have been hit hard since Covid-19.”
"With the cessation of exports of bauxite, as well as the processing of raw materials into semi-finished materials (aluminium) in the country, it will provide higher economic growth, including a positive impact on aluminium industry players," Jodi added.
The global aluminium industry for the past two years has been under immense pressure due to several reasons, apart from the decline in demand for the aluminium industry. It also experienced the pressure of the rise in the price of raw materials for aluminium ingots. Since the beginning of Q2 2020, the price on the London Metal Exchange futures exchange has been around $1,400 per tonne and has continued to surge and touched $3,000 per tonne in Q3 2021.
"The impact of the pandemic has caused several aluminium manufacturers to finally have to stop operating after trying to survive for almost two years. The company has also felt a big impact, therefore we have to take some strategic steps through a transformation program to survive, and we are grateful to be able to through this difficult time and foster optimism to face the challenges in the coming year," said Jodi.
Jodi further added: “If you look at the production data backwards, HKMU’s subsidiary PT Handal Aluminum Sukses (HAS) performance exhibits quite good results. The total production of HAS in 2019 reached 5,314 tonnes, then in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, HAS was able to record an increase in production of 6,150 tonnes, although in 2021 it experienced a marginal drop in production. However, it is anticipated that the production target can be pursued to reach 5,700 tonnes at the end of this year.”
"The production decline in 2021 is part of the fixed basic strategy to improve market fundamentals and the company's margin structure, so far it has shown good results and is in line with management expectations. In the coming year, we will carry out a strategy by starting to optimize the business to bring the company in a better direction," he said.
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