New Russian smelter fully on line by end of Nov…

The new 300,000tpy Khakaz smelter in Russia is ramping up to full capacity with the fourth and final potline currently being commissioned, according to UC RUSAL. The smelter passed the 100,000t production mark in September and is scheduled to be fully on stream by the end of November. Khakaz is the first greenfield smelter to be built and commissioned in Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union. Total costs have been $750m. UC RUSAL is engaged in upgrades of several of its existing smelters in Russia and the next major boost to group capacity after Khakaz will be the expansion of the Irkutsk smelter. Two new potrooms with capacity of 170,000tpy will lift Irkutsk's capacity to 450,000tpy. The project is nearing completion with formal launch due also next month, US RUSAL said.