Production at Rusal's Friguia alumina refinery in Guinea cut less than 10%

Production at the Friguia alumina refinery, operated by Russian Aluminium, or Rusal, is down by less than 10% as a nationwide strike continues in the Republic of Guinea, a Rusal spokeswoman said Tuesday.

But this won't impact the production of aluminium metal at Rusal's smelters as the company has contingency plans in place, she told.

"At this stage, (Friguia's) production has decreased by less than 10%," said Rusal's Vera Kurochkina. "That will not affect our aluminium production as we have contingency plans which ensure there's no break in the supply of alumina to all our smelters," she added.

The general strike is aimed at toppling the country's long-ruling president, Lansana Conte, who seized power in a 1984 coup and has refused to step down in spite of rumors of ill-health.

The 780,000 metric tons a year Friguia refinery is part of Rusal's Alumina Company of Guinea, which has an annual bauxite capacity of 2.8 million tons.

Also in Guinea, Rusal is the manager of the Compagnie de Bauxite de Kindia bauxite mining complex, which has an estimated capacity of 3 million tons a year. The complex consists of the Debele mine, a railroad connecting the mine with the Conakry port, and the port itself. An average number of 4-5 vessels carrying bauxite leaves Conakry for Rusal's Nikolayev alumuina refinery in Ukraine each month.

Guinea, a key bauxite producer along with Australia and Jamaica, dominates African production of the raw material. The west African nation contains 30% of the world's reserves and accounts for 94% of African bauxite production.

Four tons of bauxite make two tons of alumina which in turn is smelted to produce one ton of aluminium.