LONDON June 10 (Reuters) - Aluminium producers will be forced to shut down smelters if the metal price remains at current levels, the chief executive of the world's biggest aluminium producer said in an interview published on Thursday.
Russian tycoon and UC RUSAL (RUAL.PA: Quote)(0486.HK: Quote) head Oleg Deripaska told the Financial Times the fall in the aluminium prices meant many producers were struggling to cover production and distribution costs.
"If (the aluminium price) will be at this level at the end of the second and third quarters, we will see 2 million to 3 million tonnes shut down, all around the world," Deripaska told the paper.
Rising energy costs in China are making it hard for local producers to remain profitable, Deripaska told the paper, saying he expected many manufacturers to mothball some of their smelters.
The FT said RUSAL benefited from lower production costs as it has access to cheap power from Siberian hydroelectric plants.
Earlier this year RUSAL said it would limit capacity increases to the 100,000 tonnes Planned for 2010 and a further 332,000 tonnes set for next year. [ID:nLDE63K1HG] (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Gary Hill)