Chalieco and Mibam sign agreement for Alcasa upgrade

B N Americas reported that Chinese company Chalieco, a subsidiary of state owned Chinalco, has signed USD 430 million agreements with Venezuela's basic industries and mining ministry to upgrade technology at state aluminum reducer Alcasa. The agreement was reached after modifications were made during negotiations to propose a new recovery plan for Alcasa.

Chinalco took charge of the 2 year plan to restore operating levels at Alcasa in March. The plan involved building a 40,000 tonne per year extrusion plant and updating the smelting and rolling areas and lines 3 and 4. However, the original proposal did not meet Alcasa's expectations and had to be revised.

Chalieco will now provide the parts for the plant's recovery but Alcasa will be responsible for the works. Chalieco will also be in charge of the installation of the new equipment required for the recovery plan.

The spokesperson said that the new plan allows the funds that were allocated for the project to be spread across the reduction, smelting and rolling plants, as well as the new extrusion plant. Chinalco's initial proposal did not include the extrusion plant.

Alcasa declared an operational and financial emergency in April due to the lack of resources to maintain the stability of the cells, which have been operating at 40% of capacity.