Rio Tinto puts Abu Dhabi aluminium project on hold

Rio Tinto has put its aluminium smelter project in Abu Dhabi on hold, a company spokesman said last Thursday. "It is certainly on hold, we've taken our focus away and put it onto other projects," he said. "To say it's 'dead' is not quite right," he added, when asked about media reports saying that it was "dead". He said the project was on hold pending a review by the Abu Dhabi government of its energy requirements. The project was to be developed jointly by Rio Tinto and state-owned Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corp (ADBIC). The smelter was to be developed in three phases, with each phase consisting of 700,000 tonnes per year of aluminium. Rio Tinto said it was still interested in the project. "But we still have a strong pipeline of projects in the Middle East and elsewhere," he said. Source: Arabian business