On October 10, 2005, the contract signing ceremony on Kazakhstan Aluminum Smelter Project between NFC and Kazakhstan Aluminum Smelter Joint-Stock Company was held in Beijing. According to the contract whose total value is about RMB 2.4 billion, NFC will undertake construction and installation, as well as equipment supply. Mr. Luo Tao, NFC’s chairman of the board, attended the ceremony with the first vice-president of Kazakhstan Aluminum Smelter JSC, Mr. Ganauer. Mr. Wang Hongqian, president of NFC, signed the contract on behalf of NFC.

The total investment of this 250kt/a smelter project is about USD 800 million. The construction of the project is divided into two phases, and NFC will undertake the construction of Phase One of the project, i.e. a 125kt/a smelter. According to the contract, the Phase One project will be partly put into production before the end of 2007 and inaugurated on August 2008. After start-up, the project will be the largest overseas aluminum smelter contracting project NFC has ever had, and also the biggest aluminum smelter contracting project Chinese enterprises have ever undertaken abroad up to now.

Mr. Luo said on the ceremony that with rich experience on overseas project contracting, NFC had  achieved success on projects such as copper, aluminum and zinc. Therefore, Kazakhstan Aluminum Smelter JSC choosing NFC as its partner on this project is a wise decision. NFC promises to repay the owner’s trust by the shortest construction period and highest quality, and regards this project as the starting point of the two companies’ bilateral cooperation, which will be deepened by the joint efforts of both sides in the future.