All of the major aluminum producers, including UC RUSAL, Alcoa, Alcan, Chalco, and Hydro Aluminum, operate smelting plants. A typical smelting plant will have two production lines, each of which produces approximately 300 to 400 tons of aluminum per day. We will examine the short-run cost of production. Thus we consider the cost of operating an existing plant because there is insufficient time in the short run to build additional plants. (It takes about four years to plan, build, and fully equip an aluminum smelting plant.)