Alcan launched a new feasibility study into the construction of a smelter last November. It said the new study would be completed in the second quarter of this year.

"The Coega aluminium smelter is still being assessed, and the feasibility is still to be worked on," said Alcan spokesman Alexander Christen yesterday.

News of an indication as to whether Alcan will go ahead with the project comes in a week when Brian Gilbertson, CEO of Russian aluminium group SUAL, said his group was also considering erecting an aluminium smelter at Coega.

Gilbertson said earlier this week he had spoken to Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa about the matter, and would consider constructing a smelter at Coega if it was attractive enough.

Alcan said if the project received the go-ahead, construction could start as early as the end of this year, with the first metal to be produced in 2008. The Canadian company’s smelter may produce up to 660000 tons of aluminium a year, making it one of the world’s largest.

The Coega Development Corporation has had mixed success in attracting investment. The surrounding motor industry has not moved there, and General Motors SA, which is starting an export programme, chose to buy land near its existing plant in Port Elizabeth for a possible expansion rather than operate from Coega. With I-Net Bridge