Rusal will compete with China on the nonferrous metals market by producing new alloys and introducing environmentally clean technologies in its production process, the Russian aluminum giant's CEO, Vladislav Solovyev said.

"We want to put the emphasis on the environment and show the whole world that aluminum should be produced on environmentally clean sources, not on coal-fired generation like, for example, in China. This is hydro and gas generation, perhaps even nuclear. The conversion of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Smelter (KrAZ) and Bratsk Aluminum Smelter (BrAZ) to EcoSoderberg technology is also proceeding at full steam, and the Boguchany Aluminum Smelter, which will use all the latest environmental technology, is preparing to launch. In addition, inert anode technology has reached the commercial testing stage," Solovyev said on the sidelines of the seventh international conference and exhibition Nonferrous Metals and Minerals - 2015 in Krasnoyarsk.

"Another area that will enable Rusal to maintain its competitiveness is production of new types of alloys that have high added value and a high premium. Foremost, these are alloys for the automotive and aircraft industries," Solovyev said.

He also said that in 2017 KrAZ will launch a new facility to produce in-demand large-diameter extrusion billets with capacity of 120,000 tonnes of finished product per year.

He said that the company is managing to maintain profitability in the crisis thanks to its effective work in previous years.

"We've been helped by the fact that during the crisis that began in 2009-2011 we did a major restructuring, closed unprofitable plants in the western part of the country, wagered on the Siberian plants - Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, Novokuznetsk and Sayanogorsk. We're working hard on energy conservation, working on import substitution. For example, the processing machines of Rusal's own make, presented here at the exhibition, are 40% cheaper than foreign equipment," Solovyev said.

It was reported earlier that the new extrusion billets production line at KrAZ was scheduled to go into operation in 2016. The cost of the project was estimated at $45 million.

(Source from: Interfax : Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire, Sep 16, 2015)