OREANDA-NEWS. On June 25, 2007 United Company RUSAL, the world’s largest producer of aluminium and alloys, announced the start of construction of the Taishet aluminium smelter in the Irkutsk region. The smelter’s annual capacity will total 750,000 tonnes of aluminium. The projected volume of investments into construction of the facility is approximately USD 2 bln, reported the press-centre of RUSAL.

A feasibility study of the smelter’s construction has been executed by Bechtel Corporation, an international engineering company, with the assistance of specialists from United Company RUSAL’s Engineering & Construction Division. The Taishet smelter will comprise 4 potrooms equipped with state-of-the-art RA-400 cells developed by the UC RUSAL’s Engineering & Technology Centre.

The smelter will also include casthouse, anode, and energy shops, gas treatment facilities, and a complete complex of infrastructure facilities. The smelter’s first batch of aluminium will be produced in November 2009 and completion of the smelter is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2011. The project also provides for at least 150,000 square metres of new accommodation for future smelter personnel. Construction of the smelter is being carried out by United Company RUSAL’s Engineering & Construction Division.

“UC RUSAL’s major aluminium assets are concentrated in Russia, and it is here that we see big potential for developing new plants. We have developed the ‘smelter of the future’ concept which complies with the world’s strictest technological and environmental standards. The implementation of this project will allow the company to increase aluminium output by over 19% and will become an essential contribution to the development of the Russian economy,” said Alexander Bulygin, UC RUSAL CEO.

Investment into the project will total around USD 200 mln in 2007. By the end of the year, preliminary works at the construction site will be complete, and major construction and mounting works will begin.  This will include laying the foundations for the reduction plant, casthouse and anode shops, construction of temporary and infrastructure buildings, and provision of power supply to the smelter site. Construction of residential buildings will start this year.

Approximately 6,000 people will be involved in the construction of the smelter, most of whom are residents of the Irkutsk and adjacent regions. After its launch the plant will employ a total of 3,000 people. Apart from creating new jobs at the smelter itself, the company is planning to outsource a few secondary supporting functions to third-party contractors, which will ensure a 25% growth in the region’s employment rate.
 
According to preliminary estimates, due to the implementation of this project, the volume of capital costs developed by the Irkutsk region’s construction industry will amount to 10 to 20% of the total investments into the smelter. From 2009 to 2013, the Taishet aluminium smelter’s average annual tax allocation rate into the Irkutsk region and Taishet municipal district’s budgets will exceed USD 55 mln.