Almatis announces global price increase for all products
Effective September 1, 2008, Almatis will increase the prices for its entire specialty alumina product portfolio for all new contracts worldwide. Increases on ex-works prices for standard Tabular, Calcined Alumina and Calcium Aluminate Cement as well as fine precipitated Hydrates will range from 150 to 200 $/MT depending on product grade and availability. Prices for all other product lines will be increased correspondingly.
“Exceptional increases in the cost of our most important input factors - transportation, energy and raw materials - leave us no choice but to reflect these developments in our pricing. The current margins would not justify investment in further capacity growth and product development to ensure sufficient availability of premium specialty alumina as enabler of growth in a range of industries”, explains Almatis’ CEO Martin Laudenbach. “This price increase in combination with our internal efforts to continuously improve productivity and reduce cost is part of our efforts to sustain our business and make large investments like our new calcines kiln in Asia viable.”
Over the last few years Almatis has invested over 50 million USD in capacity expansion projects worldwide making the company one of the largest investors in specialty aluminas. Two weeks ago Almatis announced a new 50 million USD project to establish a full-scale calcines production facility in China scheduled for start-up in 2010.
About Almatis
Almatis is a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of premium specialty alumina products. With nearly 1000 employees worldwide, the company’s products are used in a wide range of industries, including steel production, cement production, non-ferrous metal production, plastics, paper, ceramics, carpet manufacturing and electronic industries. Almatis serves customers globally out of nine production facilities located strategically around the world.