Russian aluminium exports up 2.9% year-on-year in H1 07

Russia’s exports of aluminium totalled 2.172 million tonnes in the first six months of this year, up 2.9% on the 2.111 million exported in the year-earlier period, according to the latest figures from the country’s customs department. Exports were running below year-earlier levels in the first quarter of 2007 but have since caught up and overtaken 2006 levels. We’d expect this trend to continue in the coming months, reflecting the accelerating growth in the country’s aluminium production. It rose by 4.0% in H1 2007, compared with growth of just 1.9% in calendar 2006, reflecting the ramp up of UC Rusal’s new 300,000tpy Khakaz smelter.