UC Rusal bides time on China expansion project

Shanghai. August 29. INTERFAX-CHINA - UC Rusal will supply primary aluminum to the Chinese market when market conditions become favorable, a senior official with United Company Rusal (UC Rusal), one of the world's three largest aluminum producers, said at the Interfax-organized UC Rusal Press Conference, held in Shanghai today.

"China is expected to become a net importer of primary aluminum by 2009, as the aluminum supply in China has already begun to slow, while demand is seen to be increasing. UC Rusal intends to fill the gap from possible supply shortages, and plans to export 200,000 to 300,000 tons of aluminum to China by 2009 at the earliest," Peter Finnimore, UC Rusal's aluminum sales director, said.

"Currently, there is still a price difference between aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange. We believe that as the fundamentals change in aluminum demand and supply, China's aluminum prices will adjust accordingly and finally move parallel to the international market, thus making UC Rusal a competitive player in the China market," Finnimore said.

Currently, UC Rusal products are sold in 70 countries worldwide, with 23 percent of sales from Asia, mainly supplying Japan and Korea. UC Rusal has pledged to increase the proportion of sales to Asia to 30 percent of total sales over the next two to three years, with China included in this expansion plan.

Compared to other aluminum producers, including Alcoa and Alcan, UC Rusal aims to focus more on upstream aluminum supply to China, rather than downstream aluminum products.

UC Rusal's sole current operation in China is a cathode factory in the city of Linshi in China's Shanxi Province, acquired in April last year. The cathode plant supplies UC Rusal's smelters in Russia.

"UC Rusal will continue to seek opportunities for either plant expansion or other acquisitions. But we have no definite aluminum or alumina projects in China at present," Finnimore said.

Upon questioning, Finnmore commented that "why UC Rusal intends to make use of its various major smelters and new projects located in southern and eastern Siberia to access the Chinese market, rather than establishing smelters in China, is due to the high energy costs in China."

Chinese smelters are charged the highest power costs in the world, at between $0.03 and $0.04 cents per 1000 kilowatts, while the global average is between $0.02 and $0.03 per 1000 kW. Russia and Canada only charge between $0.01 and $0.02 per 1000 KW.

UC Rusal was established in March 2007 through the merging of RUSAL, SUAL and alumina assets from Glencore. The company has a current production capacity of 3.9 million tons of primary aluminum and 10.6 million tons of alumina per annum, and owns approximately 12.5 percent and 16 percent of global aluminum and alumina production capacity, respectively

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稿件：中国强劲的铝消费将继续使其成为世界主导

上海. 8/29. 国际文传电讯社 - 俄罗斯铝业联合公司（以下称 联合俄铝）销售总监彼得·芬尼莫尔周三参加2007年中国国际铝工业展览会， 在由国际文传组织的记者招待会上表示中国强劲的铝消费将继续使其成为世界主导，并将从2009年开始成为铝净进口国

芬尼莫尔表示中国已经成为世界上最大的原铝生产国和消费国，中国的城镇人口比例增大使中国在个人消费品，包装，汽车和其他行业的铝消费不断增长，他预计到2010年，中国的铝消费量将占全球总消费量的36%， 目前其所占比例为25%。

“中国有望从2009年开始成为原铝的净进口国,”他预测到。

联合俄铝估计中国今年原铝的产量会达到1200万吨，大约占全世界产量的1/3。去年中国的原铝产量为930万吨。联合俄铝同时预测中国氧化铝的产量将有望达到2000万吨，而去年的产量是1370万吨。

同时，芬尼莫尔也指出中国铝行业也面临了不少挑战。比如，电价高昂，能源消耗大，尽管铝行业进行了设备更新，落后产能仍比较多。

目前联合俄铝在中国山西灵石运营一个年产能为15000吨的碳素厂，公司计划在未来将其扩产成25000吨。

芬尼莫尔最后表示公司位于西伯利亚南部和东部的铝冶炼厂可以通过俄罗斯远东港口和边境通道直接供应给中国市场俄铝的产品。

但是他也承认，三月期铝在上海和伦敦交易所的价差将成为俄铝产品进入中国市场的一个障碍。

2007年3月，俄罗斯铝业公司、西伯利亚乌拉尔铝业公司和嘉能可国际公司的氧化铝资产合并成立了俄罗斯铝业联合公司。 该公司目前拥有约400万的电解铝年产能，和约1,100万的氧化铝产能，在世界19个国家有分公司和办事处。目前，联合俄铝在亚洲，欧洲，美洲和独联体国家(CIS)分别占有23%，38%，16%和23%的市场分额。