Russia: RUSAL reveals top 10 events of 2017

RUSAL has presented a list of the company’s most important events and achievements in 2017.

The achievements form part of the company’s key deliverables and demonstrate its strategy in action, which is to enhance RUSAL’s operational efficiency and environmental performance, increase its share of value added products, and develop social infrastructure in the communities where RUSAL operates. The listed projects, both domestic and international, demonstrate the company’s values and their implementation by RUSAL’s management team.

1. RUSAL launched its bespoke new low carbon aluminum brand, ALLOW. The new brand features a significantly lower carbon footprint – specific volume of greenhouse gas emissions – as compared to the industry average. ALLOW’s carbon footprint is lower than 4 tons of CO2 equivalent per 1 ton of aluminum, while the world average is currently approximately 12 t CO2 equivalent per ton (scope 1 and 2 at the smelter).
2. RUSAL became the first Russian company to offer yuan-denominated Panda Bonds. The bond offering generated a high level of demand from the Chinese investment community. Two tranches amounted to RMB 1.5 billion in total.
3. RUSAL initiated the development of a data center project at the Nadvoitsy Aluminum Smelter in the Republic of Karelia. The data center will focus on providing IT services, including solutions for big data analysis, machine learning, and cryptocurrency mining-related operations. AA!LAB company has become RUSAL’s first project implementation partner.
4. Aluminum alloys 8030 and 8176, produced by RUSAL, were successfully approved by Russian authorities for use in electrical wiring applications. After a nearly 20-year ban, this approval opens up new market opportunities for aluminum. The new aluminum wiring has the highest level of fire safety, which is obtained through the addition of combustion-resistant polymer insulation that does not contain halogens. 8030 and 8176 alloys are able to be widely used in electrical wiring production in the United States and China.
5. RUSAL and NUST MISIS (National University of Science and Technology – Moscow institute of steel and alloys), one of the leading Russian universities, launched a College of Lightweight Materials & Technologies. The College became Russia’s first platform for joint scientific and research & development work aimed at the development of modern technologies. The R&D work will be undertaken by NUST MISIS, RUSAL, and other Russian Aluminum Association members. The College’s main activities will be focused on the creation of new materials for high-tech industries (the aerospace, ship building and car manufacturing industries), as well as the development of additive technologies and metal-matrix aluminum composites, some of which will utilize power source technology based on aluminum (aluminum-ion batteries).
6. RUSAL inaugurated a one-of-a-kind laboratory for combating highly infectious diseases as part of its hospital in Guinea. The laboratory, in cooperation with Rospotrebnadzor and its research units, was established as a part of the Center for Epidemic and Microbiological Research and Treatment (CEMRT), which was built by RUSAL in 2015 to fight the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. RUSAL’s investments in the construction of the center have amounted to more than $10 million.
7. In Russia 2017 was declared the Year of Ecology, and the “Green Wave” eco-marathon initiated by RUSAL became a large-scale environmental project that engaged 4,500 volunteers from 14 cities. The initiative runs parallel with another environmental event called Yenisei Day. As part of the eco-marathon 2,371 trees were planted by company employees and volunteers in Krasnoyarsk and Shelekhov, Achinsk and Volgograd, and many other cities.
8. RUSAL acquired a share of the SKAD aluminum wheels producer, located in Krasnoyarsk. The company is now actively increasing its output of value-added products and further developing its expertise in the downstream business.
9. In 2017 various events associated with the RUSAL FestivAL were held in 16 cities across Russia and Armenia. Residents of cities and communities where the company operated took part in 62 shows, performances and exhibitions organized under the banner of the RUSAL FestivAL. For the first time, the scientific festival was held outside of Russia in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.
10. RUSAL opened the “School of Urban Change” in 12 cities where the company operated. The new social project’s objective was to organize and train groups and individuals who were then motivated to become a part of the solution for urgent social issues in their region, as well as the broader development of the volunteer movement and socially responsible businesses.

Vladislav Solovyev, Chief Executive Officer of UC RUSAL, commented: “2017 was a very successful year for our company, not only in terms of business growth, but also in the implementation of large-scale projects associated with international cooperation, technological partnership, and the development of a social and cultural environment in numerous cities where we operate. RUSAL continues to examine all possible growth areas primarily within Russia, and I am positive that the projects we have implemented in 2017 will create a platform that will allow even greater achievements in the future”. (MetalInfo/Ukrainian metal)