Rusal plans major work at two of its smelters this year
Russian aluminum company Rusal said Wednesday it has earmarked Rb5.2 billion ($83 million) for upgrade work at two of its Siberian smelters this year.
The largest projects covered by the investment will be carried out in the casthouse of the Khakas (KhAZ) aluminum smelter and at the electrode production shop at Sayanogorsk (SAZ).
The company did not say whether the projects will affect the two smelters' output.
To boost molten aluminum purity, KhAZ will have a system of 10-tonne ladles installed, while SAZ will break ground on major reconstruction of its anode baking furnaces, whose full renewal is expected towards the end of 2023.
The projects are not designed to yield instant results, according to Rusal’s CEO Evgeny Nikitin, but they will enable the plants to maintain long-term flagship status in terms of product quality and competitiveness.
SAZ and KhAZ accounted for 621,000 mt or 22% of Rusal’s total 2.8 million mt primary aluminum output in January-September 2019, according to the company. It has 10 smelters in total, including six in Siberia.