Government confirms construction of Alcasa's line 5 will go ahead - Venezuela

The Venezuelan government has confirmed that it will go ahead with the construction of production line 5 at state aluminum reducer Alcasa, Sutralumina union official Juan Salas told BNamericas.

"The government's plan to revitalize the aluminum sector calls for a US$2.7bn investment at the four companies in the sector and that sum includes building Alcasa's line 5," he said.

Line 5 will boost output from 240,000t/y to 450,000t/y and take nearly three years to build at a total cost of US$710mn.

Salas added that the government's investments aim to upgrade technology on the reducer's lines 1 and 2.

The company churned out 180,086t in 2007. Sales came to 175,644t including 110,383t to the domestic market and 65,261t for export.

VENALUM

Although the government's plan does not include building production line 6 at Venezuela's other reducer Venalum, Salas said that "during the initial phase to bolster the sector, line 6 construction has not been ruled out."

Venalum's line 6 calls for investments of US$1.05bn to take capacity from 430,000t/y to 715,000t/y.

Venalum produced 435,601t in 2007 compared to 438,927t in 2006.