Alcoa starts refinery construction

 

　　Ceremonies were held on Wednesday to mark the official groundbreaking at the refinery and the pouring of the first concrete at the aluminum rolling mill, Alcoa said in a statement. The $10.8 billion project at Ras Al Khair on the country's east coast is a joint venture with the Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Ma'aden. The complex will mine bauxite and refine the ore into alumina, which will be processed at a 740,000 metric- ton-a-year smelter.

 

　　The 380,000-ton rolling mill will initially make aluminum sheet for cans, and in the future may produce metal for building products or car parts, Kenneth Wisnoski, who heads Alcoa's division that encompasses growth, energy, bauxite and Africa, said.