Rusal Divides Its Assets In East, West Divisions

MOSCOW, July 5 -- Russian aluminum giant UC Rusal (0486.HK) said Friday it has divided its smelters into two substructures, East and West, with the former to include all its largest and most profitable Siberian smelters to meet demand from Asia.

The East division includes the Sayanogorsk, Khakass, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Novokuznetsk and Bratsk aluminum smelters, and is headed by Vladimir Polin, former senior vice president of Russian steel company Mechel (MTL).

The East division will "meet the growing demand for Rusal's products from Asia, increase the production of alloys and value-added products by achieving maximum efficiency of the production capacities," Rusal said.

Rusal, which listed its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January, has repeatedly said it sees Asia as the main engine of demand for aluminum growth.

Rusal's other smelters, some of them built more than 50 years ago, are in the West division, which will be aimed at European customers. Those smelters will "require the implementation of modernization projects and advanced training of the staff," Rusal said.