Alcoa sells Russian mill to subsidiary of Stupino Titanium Co

Alcoa has sold Russia-based aluminium mill Alcoa Metallurg Rus (AMR) to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stupino Titanium Co, a large producer of alloys in the country, sources close to the process told Metal Bulletin.

Stupino plans to increase output at the plant, which Alcoa has invested in and modernised, with the aim of exporting more aluminium products into international markets, a source close to SMC said.

Alcoa bought AMR, which is in Belaya Kalitva in the Rostov region, in 2004 from Rusal along with Samara Metallurgical Plant, which is known as Alcoa SMZ today, for a total of $257.5 million.

“The sale is consistent with Alcoa’s strategy to optimise its midstream portfolio to focus on highly differentiated products in growth markets,” a spokesperson for the USA-based aluminium producer and high-tech materials company said.

The Stupino subsidiary that bought the plant, a company called Linen, was interested in AMR because SMC’s own aluminium semis production capacity is outdated by comparison to that of the former Alcoa plant.

Between 2005 and 2014 Alcoa invested $587 million in its two plants in Russia, according to information on the company’s website.

“Now we are in business process optimisation at AMR. We plan to increase output and develop export sales. The [rouble] crisis is not a hindrance to us. On the contrary, the low rouble is our chance to enter the international market,” the SMC source said.

In recent years, Stupino has also invested in modernising its capacity to produce titanium and nickel products for the aerospace industry, launching a new foundry and smelting complex in April, the source said.

Gregory Borisov
editorial@metalbulletin.com