Industry Minister Denis Manturov said on Monday at the Russian Investment Forum that the Russian Federation may want to set up an OPEC like organization to control the overproduction of the alloy metal.
“This at the proposal stage so far. We would like it to be similar to the OPEC – so that this organization functions with direct government participation and government representatives, industry ministers in particular. Even an association will suffice for the first stage. The most important is that all nations being main producers and exporters of primary aluminum agree upon principles of the common policy in the field of standard and technologies,” Manturov said.
The suggested association may also deal with deep conversion of aluminum, prevention of overproduction and other matters “that may influence on rollout of new technologies, new standards, and coordination of new production facilities development programs,” reported Russian news agency TASS.
The minister mentioned that member countries could include Russia, China, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Russia and OPEC (which Russia is not a member) have had some success stabilizing crude oil prices on the international market, which is critical to Russia’s economy.
Although ‘managed economies’ rarely work in the long run, as shown by the Soviet Union, it never stops countries from trying. Even Barack Obama waded into the area but those efforts are now being dismantled by newly-elected President Donald Trump.
