Alcan inks support pact for Coega smelter, hopes to wrap up ports deal next month

Aluminium group Alcan hopes to finalise an agreement with Transnet National Ports Authority by the end of next month, for the port access and material-handling and storage facilities agreements for its mutibillion-dollar Coega aluminium smelter, Coega aluminium CEO Brent Hegger said on Tuesday.

This was the only main agreement remaining to be finalised, after Alcan inked a project-support agreement with the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), which manages the Coega Industrial Development Zone, in the Eastern Cape, where the smelter will be built.Construction on the $2,7-billion smelter project is still expected to get underway in mid-2008, and first production is targeted for 2010, Hegger said."Today officially formalises the heads of agreement papers that were signed in November last year," CDC CEO Pepi Silinga said at the signing ceremony on Tuesday.Hegger said the finalisation of the agreement would present a major milestone in the development of the smelter."We are very pleased with the excellent relations established at all levels of the CDC and are convinced this partnership will be a major success driver for the full project and beyond.In November last year, Eskom and the Department of Trade and Industry agreed to provide the smelter with special incentives included in South Africa's Developmental Electricity Pricing Programme, which effectively guarantee power on a cost-plus pricing model.

The most recent milestone in the smelter's development was completed in July this year, when Alcan awarded a contract worth more than $100-million to a joint venture comprising SNC-Lavalin, Hatch, and South Africa's Murray & Roberts, for the front-end engineering design (FEED) and management of the first phase of the smelter.TAKEOVER TALKQuestions have been raised over the future of the Coega smelter, after diversified mining giant Rio Tinto announced a $38,1-billion bid for Alcan, in July this year.This after Alcan inherited the project in 2003 when it took over French rival Pechiney, which had committed to the project.However, both Rio Tinto and Alcan executives have expressed confidence that the project will go ahead as planned, particularly as Rio Tinto already has an established presence in South Africa.

More information can be viewed:titanium sheets

Detect-Metals is a company that has proven experience, certified quality and dependable service providing specialty metals leadership and supply chain innovation. It is through those strengths that we have expanded our abilities