United Company RUSAL bought a cathode plant in the People’s Republic of China, the company’s press officer said to UrBC. The plant’s capacity comes to 9,300 tons of cathode stacks a year at the moment, but RUSAL is hoping to raise the cathode output to 20,900 tons by 2010. This project will require more than $20m in terms of investments.

The plant is situated within 600 kilometers of Beijing and was originally put up in 2001. The enterprise specializes in cathode stack production (these stacks being one of the elements of an electrolysis bath needed for aluminum production) and has become RUSAL’s second China-based asset after UC RUSAL acquired a cathode plant in North-Eastern China with the capacity of 15,000 tons of cathode stacks a year in April 2006.

The Chinese plants’ produce can cover UC RUSAL’s aluminum-producing enterprises in Siberia. The company is currently capable of meeting its cathode needs by 30%, while the upgrading of the recently acquired Chinese plant is expected to raise this figure to 60%.