Canada-based Alcan agreed to invest US$150 million in a 150,000 ton aluminum smelter in China and could take a US$4.7 billion stake in an expansion already underway for the facility.
Alcan, which hopes to buy all the shares of its French rival Pechiney, said it agreed to form a JV with Qingtongxia Aluminum and Ningxia Electric Power Development and Investment and will acquire a 50 percent stake in the Qingtongxia smelter.