Reuters reported that Venezuela’s aluminum production continued to fall in 2015. The country’s largest aluminum factory recorded output of 90,795 MT for the year, down 15 percent from 2014.
As quoted in the market news:
The [country’s ministry of industry] cited “low inventories of raw materials, supplies and spare parts, (and) intermittent availability of machinery and equipment.”
In March last year, Venalum said it had been forced to reduce the purity of its products owing to financial difficulties. Last year also saw an increase in production costs.
Venalum has a capacity to produce 430 000 t of aluminium annually and is 80% controlled by the Venezuelan state. The remainder is owned by a consortium of Japanese companies: Showa Denko, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsubishi Materials and Marubeni.
Venalum used to sell 75% of its production to the US, Europe and Japan. Shipments, however, have fallen since 2009.
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