Alro allocates $25m for retooling

Alro Slatina, the leading primary aluminium smelter in Central and Eastern Europe, intends to make an approximate 25 million-dollar (over 20 million euros) investment in retooling production lines this year. Investments will be directed towards the acquisition of new electrical equipment. “The equipment that needs replacement is over 30 years old and less efficient than modern equipment,” stated Gheorghe Dobra, Alro Slatina”s general manager. “To replace it, Alro is in talks with the most prominent international companies that design and manufacture such equipment.” Retooling investment, which includes replacement of electrical equipment, is an attempt to improve the safety of the production lines when in operation. Alro has invested 145 million dollars (approximately 120 million euros) over the last three years, mainly in the modernisation of its production lines and environmental protection. Investments made last year exceeded 25 million dollars (20.8 million euros). Alro intends to carry out a series of investment programmes by 2010, which are worth about 700 million dollars (583 million euros). Out of these investments, some 200 million dollars will be put into technological and environmental protection for all the companies of the group, while around 500 million dollars will be spent on boosting Alro”s production capacity to 420,000 tonnes. ZF