RusAl officials said the company planned to double its cathode block capacity in China and predicted that the country would become a net importer of aluminum by 2009.

The company, the world's biggest producer of primary aluminum, plans to raise its cathode block capacity in the country to up to 30,000 tons this year, largely through a planned acquisition, said Grigory Goryachikh, general manager of Shanxi RusAl. "We have three or four target companies. ... We expect a deal would be signed by the end of this month," Goryachikh told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai.

All the acquisition targets are based in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi, and the acquisition is expected to go through by year's end, he said.

RusAl had been in talks to buy Shanxi Qixian Yutong Carbon, a leading Chinese firm that produces 20,000 tons of cathode blocks per year, but negotiations broke down, Goryachikh said. Shanxi RusAl has an annual capacity of 15,000 tons of cathode, which account for about 30 % of supply to the Russian company's aluminum smelting units.

RusAl would not expand capacity at an existing plant, in Linshi, Shanxi, due to difficulties with approval and equipment sourcing.