Completion of the construction of a 120,000-tonne cast house at the Boguchansky smelter imminent

The alloys that will be produced at the new cast house will serve clients from the automotive industry.

According to the IHS Markit research, the global automotive production will grow to 110 mln cars by 2025, adding 15 mln cars to production in 2019. In addition to the automotive production growth the ongoing cars lightweighting process generates more demand in new cars applications such as structural. The new foundry alloys demand also comes from EVs, where primary foundry alloys usage may exceed 40 kg per car.

Given the growing demand in the automotive industry around the globe, timing is perfect for RUSAL to expand its production capacities. The launch of the Properzi production line in BoAZ will help to meet the demand for the foundry alloys for the automotive industry.

The largest demand for primary aluminium foundry alloys comes (but not limited to) from Germany, Japan, USA, Turkey, South Korea and other countries.

The first metal is expected to be produced in the second half of 2019. “The alloys produced at this smelter are in high demand in both domestic and international markets. Therefore, we are confident that the launch of the new cast house will enable us to increase our clients and supply of these high-tech alloys to the automotive industry” - commented RUSAL’s CEO, Evgenii Nikitin.

The first potline at the Boguchansky aluminium smelter (BoAZ) opened in March 2019 and has a capacity of 298 thousand tonnes of aluminium per year. The Boguchansky aluminium smelter is a part of the Boguchansky Energy and Metals Complex (BEMO), a joint venture with RusHydro, which is made up of the Boguchansky aluminium smelter and Boguchanskaya Hydropower Plant. The Boguchansky aluminium smelter is widely considered to be one of the most high-tech metal producers in the world.

BEMO is a unique project as it is the largest energy and metals investment project in the world whilst being the first example of a large scale public-private partnership in the country. About 10 thousand jobs have been created at BEMO.

RUSAL financed the construction of the accommodation for the employees at the smelter, and also invested in the infrastructure at Tayozhny.

Investing in the surrounding communities has always been an integral part of RUSAL’s corporate policy. Since 2015, BoAZ employees have been provided with 470 apartments, and soon the construction of several blocks of apartments, with 320 apartments in total, will be complete. The town will also have two playschools each accommodating 250 children, a school and a hospital.