Rusal to Begin Design of $4 Billion Alumina Refinery in Leningrad Region
Rusal is set to commence the design phase for a major alumina refinery in the Lomonosov district of Russia’s Leningrad region. The project includes surveying land for a port terminal and road infrastructure, paving the way for the construction of the Leningrad Alumina Plant (LAP).
In 2022, Rusal established LLC ‘Leningrad Alumina Plant’ with an authorized capital of 201 million rubles ($2.2 million). A year later, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Rusal and the government of the Leningrad Region signed an agreement to construct the facility, known as the LGOZ. The total investment in the project is expected to reach $4 billion.
The refinery will be built in two stages, each with an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes of alumina. The first stage is slated for completion in 2028, with the second following in 2032. The project is expected to create 7,500 jobs. Anton Alikhanov, Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade, has highlighted the refinery as a key development for the nation’s non-ferrous metallurgy sector.
Alumina, the primary raw material for aluminum smelting, is produced from bauxite ore. Russia’s domestic bauxite reserves, such as those in the Sverdlovsk region and the Komi Republic, are of low quality and limited quantity. Consequently, Rusal is likely to source raw materials from Africa, which holds some of the world’s richest bauxite reserves, alongside Guinea, Australia, Vietnam, Brazil, and Jamaica.
