October
15, 2004
Venezuela Alcasa smelter
at full capacity next week
(Reuters) - "Venezuela's state-run
Alcasa aluminum smelter expects to return
to maximum capacity of 210,000 tonnes
a year from next week as two production
lines become fully operational, the company
said.
The smelter, operated by state holding
firm Corporación Venezolana de
Guayana, shut down two of its output lines
for steady upgrading in 1998. But all
four lines with 649 cells should be running
fully by Oct. 22, the company said
'The objective is to have all the lines
producing to reach full installed capacity,'
a company spokeswoman said.
Alcasa,
the smaller of the two Venezuelan state
smelters, plans to build a fifth production
line to increase its annual production
capacity to around 450,000 tonnes a
year in 2007.
Initial
contracts for the project involving
Pechiney, which was bought by Canada's
Alcan last year, France's Technip and
Swiss-based Glencore AG, are scheduled
to be signed by the end of the year.
Venezuela, the world's
No. 5 oil exporter, is aiming to push
its annual aluminum production to more
than 1 million tonnes in the next five
years. Current output from Alcasa and
the larger Venalum plant is around 630,000
tonnes a year".
