Russia’s Rusal 0486.HK will build a plant to make alumina, used in aluminium production, in Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga as it looks to reduce its reliance on imported raw materials, it said in a statement on Thursday.
Rusal is the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China. Its dependence on imports of alumina from China rose sharply after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted the company’s usual supplies from Ukraine and Australia.
Rusal plans to invest 400 billion roubles ($4.8 billion) in the construction of four lines for alumina production and for port infrastructure in Ust-Luga, it said.
The first phase of production with annual capacity of up to 2.4 million metric tons will be commissioned by the end of 2028. The construction of the second phase with a similar capacity will be completed in 2032.
Russia currently secures 65% of its need for the intermediate product alumina through imports, mostly from China, according to October plan for development of Russia’s metals industry.
After Moscow’s invasion, production was halted at an alumina refinery in Ukraine and Australia banned its exports of alumina and bauxite to Russia. As a result, Rusal’s 2022 cost of purchasing alumina leapt by 149% and net profit fell.
The supply of bauxite for the new alumina plant will come from Guinea, where Rusal owns mines, and will require large-scale investment in the African country’s infrastructure as well, Rusal said. It did not provide any further detail about the Guinean project.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Polina Devitt in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Hugh Lawson)
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