Ukraine raises tariff for ZALK smelter

Ukraine's National Commission for Power Regulation said on Monday it had increased the electricity tariff for the country's sole aluminium smelter, ZALK, to $20.54 per megawatt hour in February from $19.53 in January.
In December Zaporizhsky Alyuminievy Kombinat (ZALK) bought electricity at $18.50.
Ukraine's government introduced a new pricing scheme for ZALK in September 2002 under which the aluminium producer would pay for power according to the price of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange. The government said power prices would rise and fall with LME aluminium.
ZALK, which is owned by a branch of Russian car maker AvtoVAZ, said earlier this year the company had increased primary aluminium output to 107,475 tonnes last year from 105,803 in 2002.