Rusal United Company invests 3 billion U.S. dollars to transform and build capacity

According to information from London on May 23, UCRUSAL said on Wednesday that the company will invest 3 billion US dollars for the upgrading of existing assets and increase production capacity.

The company's director of strategy and development, Artem Volynets, said at a mining conference, "Because of rising commodity prices, the company's cash flow is abundant."

Since the beginning of 2006, aluminum prices have climbed by 25%. It is estimated that in the next few years, the global aluminum consumption will increase by an average of 3-5%, so aluminum prices will remain high.

“At present, there are 5 projects that the company has invested in and developed. There are other opportunities.”

In 2006, Rusal acquired 77.5% of the ALSCON aluminum smelter. The smelter will be put into operation by the end of this year. It is estimated that by 2009, the smelter will achieve an annual production capacity of 193,000 tons of aluminum.

The construction of the Taishet smelter project with an annual capacity of 750,000 tons is still underway. It is estimated that the construction project will be completed in 2010.

The company was formed by the merger of RUSAL and SUAL in March of this year. Its annual primary aluminum production accounts for 12.5% ​​of the world's total production, and alumina production accounts for 16% of the world's total.

"At present, we will sell the remaining alumina on the open market, but in the future, we will add additional smelting capacity to digest the alumina."

He said that the company will consider building aluminum smelters in places where energy costs are low.

"Only places where low-cost electricity is available, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Laos, Venezuela and the Middle East can all be considered."

He also said that due to relatively high electricity prices, it is estimated that smelters in Europe and North America will be forced to shut down production capacity.

At present, energy costs account for about 40% of the total cost of primary aluminum production.