Sydney (Platts)--22Feb2011/116 am EST/616 GMT
Aluminium Bahrain's smelter operations in Askar have not been impeded by local anti-government protests, a source close to the company said Monday, amid a wave of civil unrest in the Middle East. Political demonstrations and road blocks in Bahrain have largely been confined to a small area to date, he said. There have been no hurdles to the transportation of feedstocks and output, and the majority of Alba's employees and plant workers have been able to move with relative ease to and from the company's production and corporate bases, he said. "There's been zero impact on operations." Alba can produce about 870,000 mt/year of primary aluminium at its smelter. Around 45% of the company's output is sold locally, with the balance exported. Alba's alumina term contract suppliers tend to ship a significant quantity of the raw material from Australia and India. Libya, Bahrain and Morocco are the latest to be affected by political turmoil in the Middle East, following revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. --Joanna Lim, joanna_lim@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Metals Week. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/metalsweek