But it added in its full year results that production could increase this year. The world’s largest aluminium producer reduced its total aluminium output to 3.9Mt, compared to 4.4Mt in 2008.
The company said 2009 was ‘one of the toughest years on record for the global economy.’ In the same period, the company reduced its alumina production by 36% and bauxite production by 41%.
The company predicted an upturn in 2010, saying that if demand grows as forecast, it plans to produce 3% more aluminium and 7% more alumina than in 2009. The company also plans to increase aluminium production at its plants in Siberia, Nigeria and Sweden, it said.
The company also plans to increase aluminium production at its plants in Siberia, Nigeria and Sweden, it said. It added that experts forecast a 12.6% growth in demand for aluminium in 2010 compared to 2009, ‘driven primarily by continuing economic growth in China and India.’
“We are seeing the first signs of a recovery in demand,” Rusal chief executive Oleg Deripaska said in a statement, adding that the company is receiving increasing orders from clients in Europe and the USA.
“We believe that the stabilisation that is now being seen will lead to consumption growth exceeding the pace of production increases,” Deripaska said.
The economic crisis has left Rusal billions of dollars in debt, which the company has been in complex talks with its creditor banks to restructure.