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wiredInUSA - August 2012
ASIA / AFRICA NEWS
45
INDEX
Trading Charts reports that aluminum
production is moving to the Persian Gulf
and major industry figures, such as Rio
Tinto, Alcoa Inc and Norsk Hydro ASA,
believe that the region can produce
aluminum more cheaply and attract glob-
al market share.
The aluminum market is currently
oversupplied; market participants suggest
that half of the world’s production is
unprofitable at current prices. Producers
and state-owned companies hope Persian
Gulf production can take advantage of
local low energy costs and lower shipping
rates. Such a shift will be at the cost of
more costly aluminum smelters in Europe
and America.
Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Norsk Hydro have
all closed smelters this year as prices fell
below the cost of production.
Construction is underway on a $10.8 billion
joint venture between Saudi Arabian
MiningCompanyandAlcoa. AJVbetween
Norsk Hydro and Qatar Petroleum reached
full capacity of 585,000 tonnes per year
last year and Sohar Aluminum, which Rio
Tinto owns with Oman Oil and Abu Dhabi
National Energy Company, reached full
capacity in 2009.
Aluminum makers
turn to Middle East?
ameINFOhas reported the service launch
of the Al-FawCable Landing Station (CLS)
in Iraq, built by Reliance Globalcom in al-
liance with the Iraqi Telecommunications
and Post Company (ITPC).
With this development, Reliance
Globalcom becomes the first private
subsea service provider to activate
submarine capacity and directly
connect Iraq to countries in the Middle
East, Asia, Europe and North America.
Built with an initial design capacity
of 680Gbps with two diverse routes,
Reliance Globalcom has initially lit
50Gbps on each route to cater for the
existing market demand. The two routes
are integrated into the Falcon network,
thereby offering a resilient network.
Considering the low broadband
penetration in Iraq, the Falcon landing
provides a significant milestone towards
establishing direct connectivity from Iraq
to the rest of the world, and will help
boost the nation’s telecom sector.
Al-Faw cable landing
station in operation