Bahrain\'s Alba sees production levels steady

Aluminium Bahrain, the metals maker known as Alba, forecasts production levels in the fourth-quarter will be similar to the previous, said chief financial officer Tim Murray. The company has no need to raise financing to fund a new production line, said Murray in a conference call on Wednesday. “Cash flows are still relatively healthy,” he said. “We should still be at a position to pay a reasonable dividend for 2011.” Alba is studying options to build a line that will produce 400,000 tonnes and lift the performance of two current lines, adding another 80,000 tonnes. Alba said September 21 the price it pays for natural gas will rise by 50 percent starting January 1. The Bahrain-based smelter is seeking to expand by 50 percent by 2015 to meet growing demand and is targeting annual cost savings of $250m by 2012, Schmitt said in a June interview. The Middle East poses an advantage to producers of the commodity because of lower energy costs. Alba yesterday posted a third-quarter profit, compared with a loss a year earlier, after it boosted production levels. It had net income of $214m, compared with a loss of $51m in the year-ago quarter. Alba closed 2.1 percent higher in Bahrain on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of BD695.8m ($1.85bn). The stock has lost almost 46 percent this year.