Alcan remains interested in Coega

ED RICHARDSON CANADIAN ALUMINIUM giant Alcan is continuing to plan a $2,5-billion aluminium smelter at Coega, according to media reports. Alcan chief executive, Travis Engen, is quoted by news agency Reuters as saying that Alcan could make a decision this year on the 660 000-ton Coega smelter project, but the company is not in a rush. “On the Coega project, there’s been some progress, but there’s still a fair amount of work to be done before that can be taken to a point of decision,” Engen told Reuters. “This is a very, very big commitment by anybody who will be involved, so the urgency is to get it right,” he added. Earlier this year, the Industrial Development Corporation signalled its confidence in the smelter project by announcing that it would take a 15% stake in it. Eskom has also agreed to take a stake in Coega, and plans for a multibillion-rand upgrade of power supply to the Eastern Cape are well advanced. Alcan, the world’s second-largest maker of primary aluminium, acquired the Coega smelter project when it took over French rival Pechiney in 2003. If Alcan gives the green light to the Coega smelter, it is estimated that construction could begin at the end of 2005 with the first metal being produced in 2008.