Chalco, GIIG to Develop $1 Billion Malaysian Smelter

Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. agreed to jointly develop and operate a $1 billion smelter with billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary in Malaysia’s eastern Sarawak state where a $2.4 billion hydroelectric dam is nearing completion.

Aluminum Corp., of Chalco, will form a joint venture with Syed Mokhtar’s GIIG Holdings Sdn. to build the aluminum smelter, which will have an initial annual production capacity of 330,000 metric tons. This may rise to 1.25 million tons, GIIG director Shahrir Shariff told reporters at a signing ceremony in Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur, today.