Montreal-based Alcan (AL-T) has agreed in principle to a joint venture with China’s Qingtongxia Aluminum. The deal would give Alcan a 50% stake in the 130,000-tonne-per-year Qingtongxia Aluminum smelter in the Ningxia autonomous region in China.
The deal would also give Alcan, the world’s second-largest aluminum producer, an option to secure a 50% interest in a planned and approved 150,000-tonne expansion.
The Qingtongxia smelter, completed in 1999 and fully commissioned in 2001, currently uses modern pre-bake technology. The expansion will also be outfitted with the technology, which is more efficient and less polluting.
Alcan spokesman Marc Osborne told Reuters, that the company has up to one year to complete the deal, but was hoping to wrap it up, “sooner rather than later.”
Financial terms of the proposed deal were not disclosed.
Alcan shares were off 96 or about 1.7% at $57.10 in late-afternoon trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.
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