Russian aluminium major Rusal said it plans to boost its aluminium production by 19% to 4.4 million tonnes by 2021, in order to cater to the rising global demand. The company expects the global demand to grow by 4 to 5 per cent annually till 2021 as the demand for "green" aluminium and advanced alloys is growing at a faster rate. The global demand for primary aluminium is expected to increase by 13.5 million tonnes to reach 73.2 million tonnes by 2021.
{alcircleadd}The company presentation for May also said that that it aims to use 100% non-carbon energy sources for aluminium smelting by 2020, up 5% from the current level.
Rusal also plans to boost value-added product sales by 47% to 2.5 million tonnes in 2020 from 2016. Rusal’s value-added aluminium products, like alloys in the form of ingots, bars, billets, slabs and wire rods, produced in its Siberian smelters are used in the automotive and power sectors.
The total production plan for Rusal includes output from its Siberian Boguchansk and Taishet aluminium projects. Rusal started construction of the Taishet plant in 2007 but delayed it due to the depressed aluminium market. As the global aluminium prices have rallied 12% so far 2017, and the company is planning to resume the project.
Rusal plans to agree on financing terms for the smelter in 2017.
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Per capita aluminium consumption in Russia is about 5.6 kg compared with the global average of 8 kg. The post-Soviet countries and Russia currently consume 1.4 million tonnes of aluminium annually, out of which 1 million tonnes are primary and 400,000 tonnes are secondary metal. Rusal hopes the total annual consumption to rise to 2.1 million tonnes in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by 2021.
The company also plans to have regular dividend payments and to decrease its net debt to covenant earnings ratio to less than 3x within five years.
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