Originally proposed by Pechiney, the French company taken over by Alcan last year, the smelter would produce 460 000 tons of aluminium a year, when running at full capacity. Erwin said he had "good meetings" with Alcan management in Canada earlier this month and was confident the project would go ahead. "It may change form but I am not losing sleep over it," he said, adding that Coega was a fantastic investment site that would be difficult to match elsewhere. 

Erwin said there were two or three other projects destined for the IDZ and these deals would be signed "quite soon". He would not disclose further details.