After the lifting of sanctions, the Russian company Rusal increases the capacity of its aluminum smelters

KRASNOYARSK, Russia (Reuters) – Russian aluminum giant Rusal on Friday launched a new production at its aluminum smelter in Boguchansk, Siberia, doubling its production capacity to 298,000 tons per year.

The new line, part of a larger project, is launched two months after Rusal's withdrawal from the US sanctions list. The world's largest producer of aluminum outside China is now seeking to reduce sales contracts to a pre-sanction level.

"This is a big, complex project that has a long and difficult history," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said at a ceremony in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.

"It is very important that the Boguchansk aluminum smelter – one of the jewels of the aluminum industry – be launched today," he said. declared.

The smelter, which started in 2015, previously had a capacity of 150,000 tonnes per year.

Rusal produces about 3.8 million tonnes of aluminum per year and plans to maintain its production level in 2019.

When the smelter project started 13 years ago, Rusal and his partner, the Russian electricity company Rushydro, planned to increase Boguchansk's capacity to 600,000 tons a year, requiring an investment of 2.6 billion of dollars.

Businesses said Friday they had invested a total of $ 1.6 billion to reach a capacity of 298,000 tonnes a year.