First-quarter financial results reported by the Mytilineos group yesterday confirmed, yet again, the resilience of the group’s metallurgy division, which managed to overcome the international price crisis and contribute considerably to profitability.

The corporate group’s uninterrupted operations at all divisions, including metallurgy and energy, without a single COVID-19 case, is, without a doubt, the main achievement at Mytilineos in the first quarter and the ensuing period.

Despite a considerable fall in prices of alumina, down by 26.3 percent to 285 dollars per ton, and aluminium, which fell 8.9 percent to 1,712.75 dollars per ton, Mytilineos managed to post favorable figures as a result of low raw material and production costs.

Natural gas costs for the group’s alumina production dropped by 30 percent compared to 2019. In aluminium production, the group’s overall cost for primary aluminium fell by 22.5 percent compared to 2019.

The resilience of the group’s metallurgical division, at the forefront of global alumina and aluminium production, was attributed to its vertical integration model as well as continual cost-cutting initiatives, the corporate group noted.

The company’s latest cost optimization program, dubbed Hephaestus, now being fully implemented, aims to save a further 62 million euros, 35 million euros of this total concerning the improvement of operating profit figures on a continual basis. The other 27 million euros in prospective savings represent one-off improvements.

Lower gas costs increased the profit margin at the group’s gas-fueled power plants by 55 percent compared to the previous year, while RES production was up 17.5 percent.