Foreign aluminium product makers are expected to boost Asia Aluminum Holdings' non-mainland sales as they seek to save money by outsourcing to cheaper mainland producers. Benby Chan Yiu-tsuan, deputy chairman of Asia's largest maker of downstream aluminium products, said the expected shift would boost the percentage of sales to overseas firms from 22 per cent to 50 per cent in the next three years. Indalex, which has a 25 per cent strategic stake in Asia Aluminum's 69 per cent-held principal operating subsidiary Asia Aluminum Group, will be a main source of growth in overseas orders next year. Asia Aluminum's North American sales surged 135 per cent in the year to June. High production costs in the United States, where its plants are located, saw Indalex close some of its production facilities and switch part of its resources into distributing Asia Aluminum's output in the US. 'We are also actively identifying other potential partners in Europe,' Mr Chan said. 'We are talking to all the big boys.' Asia Aluminum yesterday unveiled an 83.03 per cent surge in net profit to $240.51 million for the year to June. Turnover increased 19.95 per cent to $2.35 billion.
