KUALA LUMPUR: Press Metal Bhd has temporarily suspended operations at its Samalaju smelting plant in Sarawak, which is operated by its 80%-subsidiary Press Metal Bintulu Sdn Bhd, for safety reasons following a fire incident on Sunday that resulted in damage to some of its equipment.

The group estimates to restart the smelter operations within a month.

“A few smelting pots have been damaged, and although the fire also disrupted the electricity supply to other smelting pots, the temperature of these pots was sufficient to prevent the molten aluminium from getting solidified pending restoration of the electricity supply,” Press Metal said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

“Subsequently, although electricity supply was restored and the pots seemed to emit heat, the continued operation of these pots was not stable, and was becoming riskier for the smelting operation over the last couple of days.

“Hence, in the interest of safety for the plant and its operations as well as the workers, the group has decided to cease its operations pending a clean-up and repair work for these damaged pots, and the necessary testing before commissioning,” it said.

Press Metal said it has yet to finalise the financial impact for the group, but reiterated that it was adequately insured pending the insurance company’s assessment and loss survey.

Trading in Press Metal (fundamental: 0.95; valuation: 2) shares was suspended for an hour yesterday. The stock closed 3.93% lower at RM2.69, bringing a market capitalisation of RM3.49 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 22, 2015.