Russia's RUSAL sees 2009 aluminum $1,300-$1,500/T

MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - Russia's UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer, sees 2009 prices for the metal at between $1,300-$1,500 per tonne, the head of its aluminium division, Alexey Arnautov, told a company newsletter. In a copy of the newsletter obtained by Reuters on Friday, he added that in the past month prices had stabilised at up to $1,500 per tonne. "In the absence of negative information, the market could stabilise at the prices currently achieved, and at the end of the year...we can expect rising prices," Arnautov said. Futures contracts for delivery in three months' time reached $1,685 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Friday. The Russian giant has suffered in the current downturn, with aluminium prices losing more than half of their value since peaking at $3,380 per tonne last July. Crumbling demand from the car and construction sectors, key consumers of aluminium, have been largely responsible for the subsequent build-up in stocks. Prices are key to the restructuring terms under discussion with a 70-strong creditors' group on RUSAL's $7.3 billion foreign debt. The rate of principal repayment is likely to be linked to aluminium price dynamics. A final deal has yet to be hammered out, with just over a month left on a standstill agreement. Arnautov also said that RUSAL is in talks with Rio Tinto to lower the purchase price the Russian company pays for bauxite consumed by its Aughinish, Ireland refinery. He added that the plant has cut alumina production by 25 percent from normal levels but that output could increase if it is able to purchase Rio Tinto's bauxite at lower prices.