The Nordenham Anode Production Company plans to build the plant in Nordenham, Germany in two phases.
The first phase between 2012-2015 will see construction of a 500kt/y anode plant, then in 2020, depending on market requirements construction of the second phase will begin.
Dr Ulrich Mannweiler, managing director of Mannweiler Consulting, Switzerland, told the 15th World Aluminium Conference organised by CRU in Oslo, Norway, there would be an increased need for anodes from European manufacturers.
He said that with China’s continuous aluminium expansion, domestic customers will have priority while European manufacturers. By 2015, about 3.3Mt of merchant anodes will be required in the west, of which about a third will be supplied by China.
However, as more smelters are built in China the demand for domestic anodes will increase. About a third of European anodes would be supplied from China.
As a result, there will be a shortfall in the west. On top of this, with increased transportation costs and the stronger Yuan against the US dollar, Chinese prices will be similar or just as high as the west.
The Nordenham facility will help solve this problem. The plant will be integrated into the existing Rhenus Logistic site on the banks of the river Weser, near Bremen. Rhenus will be the partner in logistics and will provide a harbour, infrastructure and land.
Its location means it will be easy to export anodes to Iceland, Greenland, and Quebec, among others.
The plant would be built among several partners, including R&D Carbon, Outotec and Claudius Peters.
The plant is currently at the conceptual stage, with environmental assessments and negotiations with raw material suppliers currently taking place.