RUSAL Drove Aluminium Cost Down 27%

17.07.2009 — News

THE SVERDLOVSK OBLAST.

RUSAL, the world's largest producer of aluminium and aluminium oxide (alumina), reduced aluminium production at its Urals plants. The aluminium production volumes in the first half of 2009 are 33% lower compared to the same period of the previous year.

On the whole RUSAL reduced the production of aluminium in January-June 2009 by 10%. The average production cost of one ton of this metal has been reduced by 27% by the end of this period compared to December of the previous year.

The company informed RusBusinessNews that the optimisation of the alumina production is complete through the conservation of Alpart and Windalco plants in Jamaica, Eurallumina in Italy and the reduction by 39.5% of the production volumes in the Aughinish plant in Ireland.

The economic effect of the implemented cost cutting measures has exceeded 620 million US dollars for the January-June period. It is planned that the total savings in 2009 will amount to about 1.1 billion dollars.

RUSAL's share of the world market of aluminium is about 12% and alumina – about 15%. The company is present in 19 countries. The holding includes six plants of the aluminium division, these are located in the Chelyabinsk and in the Sverdlovsk Oblasts: Bogoslovsky and Ural aluminium plants, Polevskoy and South Urals Cryolite Plants, Urals Silicon, and Krasnoturyinsk Powder Metallurgy.