(Recasts, adds details, analyst comments, market reaction throughout)
* Rusal's costs rise due to Western sanctions, stronger rouble
* Rusal shifts focus to Asian markets
* Analysts optimistic about Rusal's future earnings as prices rise
* Higher aluminium sales were supported by inventory drawdowns
March 18 (Reuters) - Russian aluminium giant Rusal swung to a net loss last year despite higher sales, as its costs increased in part due to Western sanctions against Russia.
The Hong Kong-listed company, the world's largest aluminium maker outside China, posted a 2025 net loss of $455 million after a net profit of $803 million in 2024, blaming the loss on the foreign exchange impact from a stronger rouble, higher debt servicing and other costs.
Rusal's total aluminium sales rose 16.4% to 4.49 million metric tons thanks to the disposal of previously accumulated inventories, while production fell by nearly 2% due to what the company described as “planned capacity optimisation”.
While Rusal's revenue jumped 22.6% to $14.81 billion, also helped by a 5% rise in the price of aluminium, its total cost of sales soared 32.3% to $12.3 billion, fully offsetting the rise in prices.
FOCUS ON ASIA
Rusal continues to face pressure from the broader impact of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict. Although there are no direct sanctions on Rusal, some Western buyers have avoided entering new contracts for Russian aluminium.
Last year, the European Union imposed a ban on Russian aluminium, while allowing a 275,000-ton import quota during a 12-month transition period.
Since 2022, Rusal has been seeking to diversify more of its sales towards Asian markets to offset declining demand in the West.
Asia’s share of Rusal’s revenue rose to 52% last year from 43% a year earlier, with China’s share increasing to 35% and South Korea’s to 8%. Europe accounted for 16.4% of revenue, down from 21% in 2024, according to the earnings report.
Rusal's Hong Kong-traded shares slumped 15.6% to HK$4.73, while shares on the Moscow Exchange were down nearly 3%. Still, analysts say a near 9% increase in aluminium prices since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on February 28 should bolster Rusal's earnings. The war disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, blocking about 8% of global aluminium output in the Gulf.
"We expect to see fairly strong financial results from Rusal at least for the first half of 2026, given higher aluminium prices,” said T-Investments analyst Ahmed Aliyev. (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Andrei Khalip)
