Rusal and the Nigerian authorities are discussing the restart of the Alscon plant

By Alexander Miller, emerging markets consultant – Eurasia Business News, July 30, 2023

Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, and the Nigerian government are negotiating the resumption of the Alscon aluminum plant in this country, said a representative of the aluminum company said.

The Alscon aluminum plant was closed in 2013 due to unprofitability.

On July 28, the start of negotiations on the resumption of Rusal’s activities in Nigeria was announced at the Russia-Africa summit by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources of Nigeria, Gabriel Aduda.

“We confirm that we are in talks with the Nigerian government to reopen the Alscon plant,” Rusal said.

Rusal owns 85% of Alscon. The remaining stake in Alscon belongs to the Nigerian government.

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The operation of the Alscon plant was suspended in the spring of 2013. At the end of 2012, the company produced 22 thousands tons of aluminum (for comparison, Rusal produced 3.84 million tons of aluminum last year). The decision to suspend Alscon was made as part of the program announced by Rusal at that time to reduce low-profit production – a total of 300 thousands tons was stopped.

Alscon was also the subject of litigation: BFIG (Bancorp Financial Investment Group), which won the tender to buy Alscon in 2004, but was then disqualified for non-compliance, challenged Rusal’s ownership of the plant. The Russian company noted that legal proceedings related to the plant “make it impossible to conclude long-term contracts, limit the implementation of structural, logistical and production improvements, and impede the fulfillment of obligations and guarantees.” Another challenge then was to provide Alscon with a reliable and uninterrupted gas supply.

Alscon also appeared for a long time in the list of Rusal’s assets for sale, but there was no information about the interest in the asset.

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