Pittsburgh-based Alcoa in 2005 acquired the Samara Metallurgical Plant, which was the largest maker of downstream aluminum products in the Soviet Union, and has since invested $750 million to modernize its production lines.
Alcoa has been rushing to cut capacity this year after prices for many of its products sank below the cost of production, and at the beginning of the year, the company said it was planning job cuts in Russia.
Alcoa's investment also comes at a time when recession and an undeveloped infrastructure has made Russia less attractive to international investors.
Tuesday, the Chief Executive of Swedish furniture giant Ikea International said the company has frozen its investments in Russia, and referred to bureaucratic delays in Samara, where Aloca's plant is based.
Company Web site: www.alcoa.com
-By Will Bland, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; william.bland@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-24-09 0940ET

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