Page 236 - RusRPTAug24

Porsche Reports Profit Drop Due to Aluminum Shortage Porsche has reported a significant drop in profits due to an aluminum shortage. The company has revised its revenue forecast for the current year to €39-40bn, down from the previously expected €40-42bn, and reduced its sales margin forecast to 14-15% from 15-17%. Where has the aluminum gone? By May, the stockpiles of Russian aluminum on the London Metal Exchange had decreased by 195,000 tonnes to 116,000 tonnes following the imposition of US sanctions. In response, Europeans attempted to increase their purchases of Russian aluminum and other metals through sanctions circumvention. However, according to Porsche's report, this has not fully resolved the issue.
About 52% of Russian coal companies were unprofitable in January-April 2024, according to RosStat data analysed by Vedomosti daily. This makes a sharp increase from 33% and 21% loss making coal miners in 4M23 and 4M22, respectively.
The share of unprofitable companies in the sector grew 1.6-fold year on year, and 2.5-fold in two years. bne IntelliNews already analysed how Russia's coal industry, one of the country's largest raw materials sectors, is on the brink of financial collapse as it grapples with the severe impact of international sanctions.
A significant drop in the sector's profitability is attributed to lower export prices for coal and a reduction in the physical volume of exports due to higher logistics costs, Vedomosti commented citing market participants.
In early April 2024, export prices for Russian thermal coal, which accounts for 85% of coal exports (the rest is metallurgical or coking coal), fell to their lowest since 2021. According to the Price Index Centre (PIC), the price of coal with a caloric value of 6,000 kcal at the Far East basin was $95 per 1 tonne, down 6% since the beginning of the year. In Taman port coal of the same caloric value cost $72 per 1 tonne (-13%), in Baltic Sea ports $61 per 1 tonne (-14%).
Previously in April the Deputy Energy Minister Sergei Mochalnikov told Vedomosti that margins in the Russian coal sector are close to zero.
At the same time, the main buyers of Russian coal in 1Q24 reduced imports. Exports to India in 1Q24 in annual terms more than halved to 4.7mn tonnes, to Turkey to 4.1 mn tonnes, to China - down by 16% to 12.9mn tonnes. Total coal exports from Russia in 1Q24 fell by 12% y/y to 42.9mn tonnes.
According to the analytical company Kpler, in 1H24 seaborne coal exports from Russia fell by 17% to 79mn tonnes.
236 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com