It is a blind guess of course, but the pairing of a person who knows aluminium smelting in SA like the back of his hand and a company with a strong desire to expand internationally comes at an opportune moment for the faltering attempts by the Coega port development to attract a foreign aluminium punter.

Coega has spent the best part of two years trying to convince French aluminium company Pechiney to build a new smelter at the facility, which would provide it with an anchor tenant.

Pechiney seemed to be the ideal client since it provided the technology that is now being used at the many other successful aluminium plants in SA.

The developers seemed to be making some progress when Pechiney was bought by Canadian firm Alcan, which seems in no hurry to make up its mind on the issue. It has announced it will decide at the end of the year, and not June as it had previously said.

The company's concerns were apparently unrelated to the state of the aluminum market, because a day after making this announcement it decided to take up a 20% stake in a new aluminium smelter in Oman.

The trade and industry department was quick to point out the two projects were never competitors, and Coega's chances were still alive. But given the delays, even the ever-hopeful department must realise that Alcan is not really enthusiastic.

So what about Sual? It is the seventh-largest aluminum smelting company in the world. The company intends to grow. And it has just hired a person who knows what SA has to offer and who signed off on huge smelting investments in the region.