Jun 19 2010
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld and United Shipbuilding Corporation President Roman Trotsenko, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the companies aimed at helping to develop the Russian ship building market and increasing the use of aluminum in Russian ship building. The signing took place at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
During preliminary consultations the parties defined potential areas for cooperation including the technical and commercial aspects of growing the Russian market. Aluminum has been used in marine applications since the 1890’s and has proven itself as a lightweight, durable and affordable material that allows ships to go faster, carry bigger payloads and travel longer ranges.
Commenting on the signing, Klaus Kleinfeld said: “We are very glad to start full scale cooperation with the USC, the corporation uniting practically all the main Russian assets in shipbuilding at present, which jointly account for more than 65 percent of the products manufactured in the Russian ship building sector.
“New technologies and advancements are making aluminum an increasingly popular choice for ships of all sizes throughout the world,” Kleinfeld said. “I’m absolutely convinced that the potential for the usage of aluminum is very high in the shipbuilding industry, and especially in Russian shipbuilding.”
Roman Trotsenko, President of USC, said: “We appreciate the interest of such a major partner as Alcoa to the Russian shipbuilding industry modernization projects. We hope that our joint efforts will bring real results in a fairly short term.”