ahmood Al Soufi , chairman of MGARMCO, said, "We are delighted to announce that after an extensive search,

Jean-Baptiste Lucas will join GARMCO as the company's new CEO. He comes to us with nearly 20 years of international and regional experience in the aluminium industry including senior roles throughout Europe and his most recent position as Chief Marketing Officer at Alba in Bahrain.

"We are confident that his global experience combined with his knowledge and understanding of Bahrain and the regional markets positions him well to lead GARMCO in this next phase of expansion. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our departing CEO Graham Bruce for his contributions over the past 18 months and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours."

Lucas, added: "I'm extremely pleased to be joining GARMCO. Having spent my career in the global aluminium industry, I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead this world class company during what is now an exciting time of growth and expansion.

GARMCO is a global exporter of flat rolled aluminum products with a network of 16 subsidiaries and associates companies spanning the Middle East, Asia, Far East, Australia, Europe and the USA. It was established in 1981 by the governments of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and its current shareholders are: Bahrain Mumtalakat, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Industrial Bank of Kuwai t , Gul f Inves tment Corpora t ion , Government of the Republic of Iraq, Government of the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar Holding Company.

GARMCO gets new CEO

mid ample regional supplies as China boosts exports, Mitsui AMining & Smelting Co., Japan's biggest zinc producer, cut annual charges to overseas buyers for the first time since

2009.

Premiums Mitsui charges buyers in Taiwan, China and other Asian nations dropped 10 percent this year from a record in 2014, said Osamu Saito, general manager at the Tokyo-based company's metal sales group, without giving a dollar amount. The charges are added to the cost of London Metal Exchange cash prices and include shipping and insurance costs. The company sells about 25 percent of its zinc production abroad.

Zinc shipments from China, the largest producer, surged last year as the government tightened control over financing deals, spurring re-exports of the metal held as loan collateral. China has also boosted exports of aluminum, increasing regional supply and raising speculation that buyers in Japan will see the fee they pay to secure supply fall next quarter for the first time since 2013.

“It's very unusual for China, a net importer of zinc, to export such a large volume,” Saito said in an interview. “Unwanted metal is flowing out of the nation.”

Mitsui cuts zinc fees for the first time since 2009

As per reports, some big aluminium producers have offered Japanese buyers a premium of USD 415 to USD 425 per tonne for April to June primary metal shipments, flat to down around 2% from the prior quarter.

Japan is Asia's biggest importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange cash price set the benchmark for the region.

For the January to March quarter, Japanese buyers mostly agreed to pay a record premium of USD 425 per tonne PREM LUM JP up 1.2% from the prior quarter.

The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began this week between Japanese buyers and miners including Rio Tinto and Alcoa Inc and are expected to continue to next month.

Pro d u c e rs se e k Q 2 A l p re m ium

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Pro d u c e rs se e k Q 2 A l p re m iu m

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