The 2008/2009 business year: The TRIMET team masters difficult times

Decisive and in a good mood, TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG of Essen is now hoping for the recovery of the markets after a difficult 2008/2009 business year. On the one hand, demand is increasing again, but the true reasons for the optimism are more medium-term: "Aluminium is the metal of the future," sole owner and Supervisory Board Chairman Heinz-Peter Schlüter says.

"With our aluminium, we store energy, protect resources in recycling, and spare the environment about 1.7 million tons of CO2 with our products."  An independent institute has confirmed the environmental benefit of aluminium beyond the duration of its utilisation after extensive tests in the past weeks.  
 
TRIMET was able to conclude the past business year (1-7/30-6) with a profit despite the economic crisis. As a result of lower metal prices and decreasing production and trade volumes, turnover in the four areas of Metals & Energy, Primary Products, Recycling, and Automotive fell from EUR 1,112.3 million in the previous year to EUR 827.0, while the annual result reached EUR13 million after a special depreciation of EUR 1.2 million. In the previous year, EUR 39.8 million was listed as the result.
 
The financial situation is being influenced by an equity ratio that has increased by two percentage points to 37.1 and liquid assets that have risen to EUR111.4 million. The net financial debts to banks increased from EUR78 million to EUR85.8 million. The Board of Management and Supervisory Board are certain that the "difficult times" have been overcome, especially thanks to the employees. At some sites, the employees took advantage of the arranged short-time work to take part in voluntary further education measures. The number of employees remained almost constant at 1,548 (1,569 in the previous year), while the number of vocational trainees increased from 73 to 86: if the achieved environmental benefit is compared with the number of employees, each TRIMET employee saves more than 1,000 tons in CO2 emissions a year through his or her work.
 
TRIMET claims it will emerge even stronger from the economic crisis. A prerequisite, however, is a guaranteed power supply of the energy-intensive smelters in Essen and Hamburg at acceptable prices. In the next three years, compensation payments are being demanded for the CO2 certificate costs included in the electricity tariffs by the power companies and a comprehensive release from these costs by 2013. Without this release, the existence of the TRIMET smelters in Essen and Hamburg with a total of 1,000 workplaces are in great danger; TRIMET has no "Plan B" in this case.