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ALUMINIUM RoLLINg INDUSTRY
Rusal – largest producer of aluminium foil in Russia
UC Rusal, a leading global aluminium
producer, is also Russia’s largest producer
of aluminium foil and packaging
materials made from aluminium foil. The
Packaging division comprises four foil
mills: Sayanal, Armenal, Ural Foil and
another plant under the brand ‘Sayanskaya
Foil’, where household foil is rolled
and packed. Rusal’s Packaging division
mostly produces household and technical
foil, converter foil and foil­based packing
materials. At present, the Packaging division
makes 81,000 tonnes of aluminium
foil a year. By 2016 Rusal plans to invest
USD17 million to increase production to
100,000 tonnes a year.
Coil transport at the Sayanal plant
Packaging materials made from aluminium foil
are in high demand all over the world. Typically,
the higher a country’s standard of living,
the higher the demand for aluminium foil for
packaging purposes. Analysts at BrookHunt
predict that by 2025 the amount of aluminium
used for packaging in developed countries
will have increased by nine million tonnes,
compared with the 2010 level of 5.5 million.
Converter foil
Converter foil is the Packaging division’s most
promising product as it delivers much higher
margins than conventional household foil.
Converter foil is used for easy storage and
packaging of goods such as food, pharmaceuticals
and cosmetics. Alufoil is the perfect material
for preserving the taste and freshness of
dairy products, juices and baked good.
Based on Rusal’s estimates, converter foil
accounts for 60% of the world market. Rusal
is planning on coupling an increase of overall
production in the Packaging division (from
81,000 to 100,000 tonnes) with a shift in distribution
to converter foil (from 30% of total
production to 50%).
Household foil
The improving economic situation in Russia
has resulted in the consumer demanding
higher standards in their basic household
goods. Russian consumers begin to prefer ecofriendly
and healthy goods to those that are
cheaper but less safe for themselves and the
environment. This trend can also be seen in
the household
packaging materials
market,
which has led
to an increasing
demand for
foil. The Russian
household
foil market has
been growing
steadily both
in scale and
volume. ‘Sayanskaya
Foil’,
produced by
Rusal, has become
the most
popular household
foil brand
© Rusal
due to its high
quality and product diversity.
Household aluminium foil strip comes in
all shapes and sizes, making it very versatile.
Depending on the foil thickness (9, 11, 14,
20 µm), it can be used for storing or preparing
food at a widevariety of temperatures.
The strip width is specially designed to fit in
standard-sized stoves. The bobbin length varies
between 8 and 100 metres.
Household foil is produced at the ‘Sayanskaya
Foil’ plant in Moscow region, while aluminium
strip comes to the factory from Rusal’s
foil mills for rolling and packaging. Then
the finished product is ready for sale. On
the B2C market segment for household foil,
Rusal’s owns proprietary trademarks ‘Sayanskaya’
and ’Sayana’. Under the brand name
‘Sayana’, Rusal offers cling film, baking paper
and roasting sleeves and foil for hairdressers.
Rusal, according to in-house analysts,
accounts for more than 50% of the domestic
household foil market. Not only does Sayanskaya
Foil make its own products, it also
provides custom labels for world-famous retail
brands operating in Russia.
Rusal’s production facilities
The Sayanal plant is the most technologically
advanced of Rusal’s foil mills. It is located
next to the Sayanogorsk and Khakas aluminium
smelters. Sayanal was built in 1993 with
the support of the Italian engineering company
Fata and the US company Reynolds Metals.
This is Rusal’s sole foil mill which produces
decorative foil, laminates, paperbacks, multicoloured
prints, lacquer coating and colouring.
Sayanal’s design team customises foil to fit the
clients’ needs.
Between 2008 and 2010 the plant started
producing new kinds of foil and packaging materials:
plain 5 µm foil for capacitors, a special
aluminium strap for the production of wainscotings,
multilayer composite foil for sealing
food products and coloured paper-backed foil
for the tobacco industry. In 2011 Sayanal
produced a small amount of foil (4.5 µm) for
a Russian capacitor factory; 4.5 µm is Rusal’s
thinnest foil at present.
Rusal is implementing a multi-faceted facility
upgrade at Sayanal to increase the plant’s
capacity from 38,000 to 42,000 tonnes a year
and also improve product quality. In September
2011, the thickness gauge for mill B1 was
replaced, and the thickness monitoring system
and strip profile were upgraded. An upgrade
of the C32 mill finish is planned for 2014.
The foil mill Ural Foil will increase production
levels from 16,000 to 24,000 tonnes a
year. This plant is an important pillar of Rusal’s
packaging business and one of the fastest
growing facilities in Russia. Ural Foil was built
in 2003 as part of Mikhailovsk non-ferrous
metal working plant.
The direct rolling mill ABP 1600 was upgraded
and commissioned in 2013. Planned
plant upgrades include: debottlenecking in
the casting blank production area; modernising
the cutting machine and equipping it with
a lubrication unit for container foil production
and purchase of a foil annealing furnace; retrofitting
of the direct casting unit ABP 1600;
purchase of a modern cutting machine for foil
with a thickness of 0.005-0.05 mm; and the
purchase of two foil annealing furnaces.
The management is also planning to conduct
a partial upgrade of the automatic process
control system for the Quatro 1800 roughing
26 ALUMINIUM · 11/2013