PhosAgro may set up JV with BaselCement-Pikalevo
MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - PhosAgro may create a joint venture with BaselCement-Pikalevo that operates with production capacity at the Pikalevo complex, PhosAgro General Director Maxim Volkov said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"We are discussing formation of a joint venture with BaselCement-Pikalevo using the Pikalevo alumina complex," he said.
PhosAgro disclosed acquisition of 24% in Metakhim and 21.85% in Pikalevskaya Soda for $6 million and $5 million respectively in it IFRS earnings statement.
The investment "will increase the depth of the company's vertical integration," Volkov said.
PhosAgro currently produces just over 1 million tonnes of nepheline concentrate a year, although it could boost production to 6 million tonnes a year if it had a guaranteed market for output. Six million tonnes of nepheline is enough to produce 1.5 million tonnes of alumina, or enough for 750,000 tonnes of aluminum, he said.
PhosAgro and BaselCement-Pikalevo previously agreed a project to modernize the complex. PhosAgro signed an agreement in April with FLSmidth and the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute on cooperation in the design and re-equipment of the complex.
Pikalevskaya Soda and Metakhim are managed by Sevzapprom. They, along with BaselCement-Pikalevo and Pikalevsky Cement, make up the Pikalevo industrial complex.
BaselCement Pikalevo produces alumina from nepheline concentrate supplied by PhosAgro's Apatite . The nepheline slurry produced in the alumina production process is delivered to Pikalevsky Cement and the carbonate solution is delivered to Pikalevskaya Soda to produce soda and potash. Metakhim also uses apatite concentrate as feedstock for producing tripolyphosphate.
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