Alcoa Ready to Expand East

Alcoa Inc., the world's biggest aluminum maker, has held talks with governors of the Samara and Rostov regions about plans to buy stakes in aluminum-rolling plants there, according to the Rostov government.

Alcoa chief executive officer Alain Belda has met with Rostov Governor Vladimir Chub to discuss the purchase of 85 percent of the Belaya Kalitva plant from Russian Aluminum, the governor's spokesman Kirill Zhitenev stated. Earlier, Belda held similar talks with Samara Governor Konstantin Titov. RusAl has an aluminum-rolling plant in the Samara region.

Belda told Chub that Alcoa plans to reach an agreement with RusAl and gain support from the governments of Russia and the United States in about four months.